Tomboy No More
by Purse Monger
Summary: What happens after the wedding fails? Akane decides she may need to make some changes and Ranma finally starts to take a stand.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Takahashi does. This is just my attempt at finishing what she started.

**A/N:** This is my resolution story. I'm aiming to set this up like the manga where there will be several different arcs that will help the characters grow and move their relationship along. Some of the ideas have been done before but I will try to put my own little spin on things and will always give credit. I will also try to add some humor into this but I'll be honest, I don't know if I'll be successful. As my husband likes to say, I'm just full of drama.

I chose the T rating for language and some sexual content. If at any point you think the rating should change, please tell me.

* * *

**Tomboy No More**

Chapter 1

Dojo demolished. Dress ruined. Hopes destroyed. Tears shed.

But not for long, she was never one to weep. She learned from a very young age that tears changed nothing. The pain she felt didn't go away. The people she loved and missed, stayed dead. But she always let herself cry if the tears came.

She knew that she was being melodramatic, but a girl was entitled to be emotional when her wedding was destroyed. Right?

She had wanted to get angry; she was much better at dealing with anger than sadness. But her infamous temper was fleeting lately. After all, death or almost dying changed a person.

She still wasn't clear on what happened that day. Her memories after grabbing the Kinjakan were fuzzy. The only thing she could clearly remember was Ranma telling her he loved her. But he denied it, so she chalked it all up a dream, some delusion created from severe dehydration and the sensation of waking up in Ranma's arms. She should have known it was too good to be true; it was only ever in her fantasies that Ranma declared his love for her.

Akane rolled her yes, she was doing it again. _'Ok, no more theatrics,' _she promised herself.

She had escaped the disaster of a wedding as soon as she could get Happosai off of her and while Kuno was focused on his pig-tailed goddess, ignoring her. She snuck up to her room and after a lot of pulling, tugging and yanking, got her wedding dress off. It was only then that she got to see the full extent of the damage inflicted on the once white gown. Her dress was covered in soot from the bombs thrown at her, there was a rip in the dress she receivedafter being too close to one of Kuno's swings, cake splattered randomly throughout from Ms. Hinako's childish attempts at devouring the wedding cake and the beading on her bodice was ripped from where Happosai tried to grope her. She looked at it sadly before throwing it in a corner. There was no way to fix the dress with all the damage to it, not to mention the smell of smoke that was still wafting from the corner she flung the dress. It was fine, she'd throw the dress away the first chance she got; she wanted no reminders of the day.

She'd been in her room ever since thinking. After she was done crying, she had begun to really think about her situation. It was harder than it sounded, because she had analyze feelings that she would normally avoid thinking about. She came to the realization that she had no idea what she wanted anymore. So her first priority was to ask herself some simple questions.

Did she love Ranma? Yes.

Did she want to marry Ranma? Yes.

Did she wanted to be married right now? No.

It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be to answer those questions honestly. Now all she had to do was figure out what it all meant.

She had less control of her life than she cared to admit and if she wanted a future with Ranma, things would have to change. Ranma still had two other fiancées and one delusional stalker that he could pick. Or, if he really wanted, he could leave and choose someone new. But ultimately, that was his choice and not something she could control.

And what would happen if he did choose her? Would she still want to be with him if he only chose her out of duty? Would either of them be happy if that's how they ended up married?

She had hoped that they would marry because they loved each other, not just because of the agreement between their parents. But she knew that if he chose to be with her only out of obligation, she wouldn't be strong enough to walk away. She'd want whatever he was willing to give her. And if that made her a little pathetic, well there wasn't much she could do to change her feelings now.

Although, the idea of their relationship mirroring his parent's relationship, terrified her. She'd never want to him to leave her and take their child on a training trip for 10 years or even 1 year. That would be something she had to be firm on. And if he were happy with their marriage, then maybe he wouldn't be tempted to leave.

So she'd do whatever it took to make him happy when, _if_ they got married.

But it wouldn't hurt for her to try to make him happy before that. To give him the chance to choose someone he loved. This was the most difficult part, to stand aside and watch as he spent time with and possibly chose someone else. She would do it though; she owed him that much for always protecting her.

And in the meantime, if she really wanted to make him happy if they got married, she would work on herself. And if possible, fix some of the insanity that was seemingly thrown at them from every angle.

It was time for her to stop reacting to everything in her life. She needed to make some plans.

* * *

Dinner at the Tendo home was quiet that night. The events of the day had affected each member of the family different. The fathers were drinking themselves into a stupor, lamenting the fact that their heirs would never get married and their schools would never be joined. Nodoka was frowning as she ate, partly in response to her husband and his best friend's antics and partly due to the destruction to the dojo. Kasumi had a slight frown marring her usual serene face. She was tired of her beautiful home, the home she spent so much love and energy on, being wrecked by one strange situation after another. Ranma sat quietly and ate automatically, his gaze occasionally falling to the empty spot beside him. His mind filled with too many thoughts and heart plagued with too many emotions to comprehend. Only Nabiki seemed unfazed by anything that happened earlier.

Akane had not come down for dinner. Anticipating this would be the case, Kasumi had prepared a tray for her. After serving the rest of the family, Kasumi carried the tray upstairs and knocked on Akane's door. After receiving the expected, "I'm not hungry," response from Akane, Kasumi slipped in quietly, placed the tray on the desk and slipped back out just as quietly.

After dinner, Ranma had run off to his favorite thinking spot: the roof. He loved this being up there, it was quiet and the unobstructed view of the stars reminded him of camping during his long training journey. Ranma had no idea how everything in his life went from bizarre to really bad. Over the last couple of years, he just got used to stranger and stranger things happening in his life.

But this was too much. He knew that he wasn't good at showing his appreciation but he truly appreciated the Tendos for everything they've done for him. The home they shared with him was the only place he ever that had ever felt like home. A home that could've been destroyed today, much like the house his mother had lived in since he was a child.

Ranma had always been an amicable guy, forgiving his enemies almost as soon as their battle was over. But this time, his "friends" had finally stepped over the line. Something needed to change.

* * *

Monday morning came quickly. Akane had donned her running gear and set off even before her alarm could blare. Knowing she had a little more time than normal, she added an extra kilometer to her route. Akane relished her morning runs; the rhythmic sound of her feet pounding on the pavement was music to her ears and the endorphins acted like a balm for her soul. Everything always looked a little better after a good morning run. As she reached home, she decreased her pace and started her cool down. Stopping just inside the gates, she stretched out her muscles. Taking a deep breath, she smiled as she heard a splash in the pond and the loud string of profanity that followed. Not yet willing to face Ranma, she ducked into the house and headed for the furo. She felt a little like a coward for sneaking around. Especially since she had snuck out of the house the previous day, after leaving a note for Kasumi to say she would be out. But she still need a little more time for herself and a nice bath was exactly what she needed to top off her run.

After spending a little more time than normal on her appearance and putting on her school uniform, she looked herself over in the mirror. Pleased at what she saw, she gave herself a small encouraging nod, and braced herself before going downstairs to deal with her family. Today her plan would start and she crossed her fingers, hoping that everything would work out for the best.

After his impromptu wake-up call and sparring session by the pond, Ranma had taken a bath and rushed to get ready. He hadn't seen Akane at all the previous day and was anxious to talk to her. He had snuck into her room last night, just to see if she was ok, but he missed spending time with her. He didn't know if Akane was planning to go to school that day but he was sure she would; she was never one to avoid her problems. Ranma was determined to be on time today, as to not give her a reason to be displeased with him. Coming down the stairs, he was pleased to see that she was seated in her usual place and had already begun eating her breakfast.

"G'mornin," he greeted everyone and sat cautiously down next to her, eyeing her with a sideway glance.

Akane looked over and gave her a small smile, "good morning, Ranma."

Relieved that she was on speaking terms with him, he smiled back and begun eating with gusto. When everyone but Soun, Ranma and Akane had left the table, Soun announced there would no wedding until lingering relationships were settled.

Gritting her teeth, Akane blurted out that Ranma should pay attention and that this involved him. She immediately regretted the comment, thinking, _'this was the exact type of thing I needed to stop doing'_.

Ranma felt Akane tense at the word "wedding" and was prepared to tell Soun to stuff it when Akane snapped at him. He hadn't spoken to her in almost two days and he was hurt that _this _was the first real thing she chose to say to him. Acting on instinct and habit, he snapped back, a fact that he was not proud of.

Feeling slightly ashamed of themselves, they both left as quickly as they could.

As they made their way to school, Ranma had opted to walk next to his fiancée instead of on the fence, like he would normally do. He knew they couldn't avoid the topic forever and wanted to make the best of the few moments they had alone together.

"Hey, 'kane?"

"Yes, Ranma?"

"I...I just wanted to say sorry," Ranma said sheepishly as he began to rub the back of his neck.

Akane tilted her head to the side and scrunched her eyebrows together, "Sorry? For what?"

"Well, you know. The whole wedding mess."

Akane sighed and realized she had been doing that a lot lately, which of course, made her want to sigh again. Resisting the urge, she gave him a small smile, "It's okay. Really, you have nothing to be sorry about. If anything, I should be apologizing to you."

Stunned, Ranma steps faltered; Akane was apologizing to him?

"I didn't realize that our parents were going to try to shanghai you into the wedding. When they came to me with the idea of a wedding, I thought - well they made it sound - like you had agreed to it. And since I thought you had said...what you said at Jusendo, I agreed. Obviously, I was wrong."

Ranma knew that she was and she wasn't wrong. He didn't actually say he loved her out loud, he was sure of it. But he knew he thought it - felt it - with every fiber of his being. He just didn't know how she could have _heard_ it though. And when asked so blatantly if he loved her, he froze. He was never good with feelings and went with what he knew best: denial. Maybe now would be a good time to come clean and explain…

After walking in silence for a while and clearly not receiving a response from Ranma, Akane continued, "I should probably apologize for one more thing; I should have told you about the nannichuan as soon as I found out about it." Akane bit her bottom lip to stop her eyes from watering. "I feel terrible that you lost the cure and if I just told you, then...then you may have gotten it on time." She looked away, avoiding his gaze. If anything, this was the one thing she felt really terrible about. She had never wanted to come between Ranma and his cure.

"It's ok 'kane. Really. I think that I've accepted it. I mean, I do wanna get cured and I'm sure it'll happen, sooner or later. You know, I'll just hafta try again," he said with a shrug.

Akane was astonished. The cure was the one thing Ranma had been wanting since she met him and now he just brushed of the failure. She really didn't know what to think of it.

"Ummm...'kane?"

"Yes?"

"Are you...I mean, you look a little different today." Akane just raised her eyebrow at his comment and he quickly added, "Not that I was staring at you or anything."

"Do I look bad?"

"No! I mean, it looks kinda ni...uh...different," he finished lamely.

Akane blushed slightly, glad that Ranma noticed the extra effort she took in getting ready this morning.

During her time alone, she took a real good look at the things Ranma said. She had always thought Ranma was just being a jerk when he called her "unsexy" or made other comments about her figure and always brushed his comments aside…eventually. But what if he meant what he said? The frequency of his complaints alone leant credence to their validity.

So part one of her plan was dealing with her appearance. She knew there was little she could do about her figure; she had no control over how big her breasts were going to grow. She worked out all the time and her stomach was as trim and toned as it was going to get. She actually liked her hips, which she thought gave her a curvier figure.

Eventually, Akane decided to focus on what she could change and she had made sure to spend a little this morning on her grooming regimen. Instead of just running a brush through it, she styled her hair, adding extra volume and a cute clip to one side. Not one to usually wear makeup, she had added a little blush, eye shadow and mascara today, emphasizing her cheekbones and drawing more focus her already large eyes and thick lashes. Lastly, she put on a very thin coat of clear lip-gloss she received from Nabiki last Christmas, which she thought pulled everything together nicely. It wasn't something she was used to but thought she did a decent enough job.

The ringing of a very familiar bell saved her from thinking of something to say by. Groaning she prepared herself for dealing with the incoming Amazon by taking deep breaths.

"Airen!" Shampoo had flown off her bike and landed right in front of Ranma and immediately glomping onto him and began rubbing herself up and down his body.

Akane started forward, ready to pummel someone - anyone really - before stopping herself. She took a couple of deep breaths before she stepped back.

"Akane...this isn't...Damn it! will you stop that!"

Already walking away, Akane called over her shoulder, "I'm going to go ahead Ranma," and refused to look back. This was the other part of her plan, the really hard part.

She finally came to the realization that Ranma calling her "uncute" had little to do with her looks and everything to do with her attitude. He hated her jumping to conclusions and hitting him before she found out what was actually happening. True, she did find him in a LOT of compromising positions but once he was able to explain himself, those scenarios always had some wild but rational reasons behind them. Well, semi-rational at least. She winced whenever she remembered him "groping" Ms. Hinako.

To remedy the problem, Akane decided to try to be more understanding and to give him his space to spend more time with the other girls. She could admit that Ukyo had a real "claim" to him, since Genma did accept her dowry. Shampoo's claims were less valid under Japanese customs but Ranma had shown some attraction to her in the past and had remained friendly with her; so she couldn't be ruled out as a potential partner. Kodachi on the other hand lived in her own world. Ranma had always shown distaste for her but if he decided he wanted to spend time with the wacko, she wasn't going to stop him. However, she would question his mental well being.

While she hated the idea, it was possible that he was interested in one or more of them. If he was going to make a decision about who he wanted to be with, she had to give him the chance to make an informed decision. So, she would back off and try not to over react. But she didn't have to like it.

She stomped off toward school, hoping that the rest of the morning went better. Her heart sank as she got closer to school and heard the now unfamiliar cries.

"She's coming!" "Everyone get Ready!" "Akane, my love, date with me!" "Akane, let me prove my love to you!"

Akane had feared this would happen, that their failed wedding would be a sign to everyone that somehow, their engagement was over. She knew exactly what she had to do. Taking a deep breath, she ran towards the group of oddly dressed boys brandishing "weapons", now spilling out of the school gates as they advanced on her.

* * *

Ranma watched as Akane walked off, not even bothering to look at him. First, she came down looking...well looking like _that_. Akane was always a very attractive girl and drawing more attention to her already beautiful face seemed unfair. She already received too much adoration as it was and in his opinion, this was just asking for trouble. Not that he minded looking. He could admit that he want to keep looking at her. But he knew wasn't the only one who would look, and damn it, he was the only one who should.

Then she apologized to him. She'd done it before but it usually involved a lot of misunderstandings, yelling and physical violence before that happened.

And now, she was just leaving him trapped in the tentacles of the human octopus? What was she thinking?

This last thought brought Ranma back to his current situation. Shampoo had used his moment of confusion to carry on her groping; her right hand was traveling down his body and about to reaching an area that he certainly did not want her to touch.

"Get offa me!" He screamed and emphasized this by yanking her hand upwards and away from his body while he stepped out of her grip.

"What wrong, airen?" Shampoo asked, giving him what she thought was a coquettish pout. She stepped toward him, her hips swaying exaggeratedly and purred, "you spend day with Shampoo, I give taste of honeymoon."

"Stuff it Shampoo. I didn't want what you had to offer in Jusendo and I don't want it now!"

Ranma stormed off even before she had a chance to narrow her eyes at him and raced towards school, hoping to catch up to Akane. His sped up when he heard screaming and what sounded like a stampede. _'No. It can't be. They couldn't possibly be that stupid,' _he thought. As he reached the edge of the crowd, he realized exactly what was happening and scanned for any sight of his fiancée. _'If anyone lays a finger on her...'_

His thought was interrupted when he spotted her three quarters of the way through the melee. Stunned, he stopped almost completely as he realized that she wasn't fighting. She was dodging under, over and around every attack being thrown at her. He glanced around and noticed there wasn't a single causality amongst the crowd. Normally, the lawn would be filled with groaning or knocked out bodies, and littered with broken sports equipment. Turning back, he was impressed as he watched her weave her way through the remainder of her admirers. When she had reached the top step of the school entrance, she stopped briefly to straighten out her dress and fix her hair before she walked calmly through the doors, not bothering to look back at the stunned faces that filled the courtyard.

Akane was mad, frustrated and annoyed. Normally, this would call for her to beat the offending person or person her ire was directed towards. And she had every right to, since they did attack her, but that would only work against her. She was glad that there was no one around to see her throw her street shoes into her cubby and then slam the door to her locker. It was a very minor way for her to relieve some of the stress she was quickly accumulating and she enjoyed it. She was amazed that her perfectly lovely morning turned to crap so quickly. For heaven's sake, class hadn't even started yet!

Akane strode into her classroom and sat down at her desk. To calm herself she deliberately took her time placing everything on her desk, her homework sitting on the corner, ready to be turned in. Her book centered and her pencil and notebook ready.

"Are you alright?"

Looking up, she saw her two childhood friends looking at her with concern. "Yes, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry. I really hoped they wouldn't've reacted that way," Yuka said empathetically.

Akane shrugged. She had spent most of the previous day with Yuka and Sayuri. During that time, Yuka had told her that some of the boys were already looking at the failed wedding as a sign that Ranma and Akane's engagement over. Sayuri had then realized that they may once again start "challenging" her in mornings. Akane didn't want to think it was true but obviously she was a little too optimistic about their collective intelligence. "I really wished you were wrong but at least I wasn't surprised."

"So Akane, what was that out there?" Sayuri asked.

"Yeah, why didn't you pound the hell out of them!" Yuka chimed in.

"After I got home, I realized that I'd been handling this situation the wrong way the entire time. I was so mad when the challenges", she used air quotes to emphasize her point, "started. I was so angry with the situation that I just went with my instinct to beat the crap out of all of them. I wanted them to understand that I was not something to be won. It didn't work; they just kept attacking until Ranma came.

"I realized that they kept attacking because I kept engaging them. By fighting them, I was essentially accepting all their challenges. And the only way to stop them was to ignore them. So that's what I did."

"But wait, aren't you required by some Martial Artist code to accept all challenges?"

Akane snorted, "only if you're Ranma. It's my duty to accept all challenges to the dojo, in order to show the strength of the dojo or in order to protect it, like with that dojo challenger last year. I'm also required to accept challenges to my personal honor and strength as a martial artist, like when Shampoo challenged me. These idiots challenging me for a date doesn't qualify as either, so from now on I refuse all challenges for dates. Besides, most of those morons aren't even martial artist and have no right to issue a challenge to me. And the few that are martial artist aren't even in my league."

Both, Yuka and Sayuri had grins on their face. "Oh the boys are gonna HATE that."

Akane shrugged, "not my problem."

"So, are you gonna just keep dodging them every morning?"

"I can see that it would work with most of them, but what about Kuno? He's not going to make it easy on you to just dodge him."

"I know. I've given that some thought too." This was part of the plan that really annoyed her. "I'm going to have to get Ranma to help." Both friends eyes widened in shock. "I know, I know. Normally, I wouldn't want him to fight my battles, but I don't see this working any other way. And let's face it, I don't think it'd be a hardship for Ranma to have _another_ reason to beat on Kuno. Besides, there may be one other benefit to this plan."

"What?"

"You know how Kuno is always calling me his fierce tigress? Well maybe, just maybe, he would lose his interest in me if I stopped being so fierce. I mean this whole mess started when I beat him while sparring in gym that one day. I didn't even want the sensei to call on me and have me give a demonstration like that! Seriously, if I knew then what chaos it would cause, I would've thrown the match."

"Hmm, I guess that could be true. Its Kuno, so it's anyone's guess what goes through his head."

They all giggled at Sayuri's comment. Noticing that the bell was about to ring, her two friends moved to their desks. Akane sat up straight and looked forward, ignoring all the curious looks that came her way and not acknowledging Ukyo at all when she glanced over. As usual, Ranma sat down just as the bell sounded.

* * *

Ranma was completely bored with Ms. Hinako's English lecture. His normal attention span was even smaller than usual because of morning attacks. He couldn't believe those guys would start that shit again! He thought they were his friends...well some of them anyways. He was just really glad to see that Daisuke and Hiroshi wasn't a part of the crowd that morning.

After he got to school and saw Akane had made it inside safely, he starting asking questions (the other boys would call it yelling and demanding answers). He had quickly gotten the story after he left some convincing dents on the walls surrounding the school grounds.

Those fuckers thought that his and Akane's engagement had been broken, nullified, negated, etcetera, etcetera. He had no idea how they found out that he essentially refused to marry Akane but he guessed that Nabiki had been hard at work this weekend and made a nice chunk of change.

It was true, he did refuse to marry her, _that day_. It didn't mean he was giving up on their engagement; that was NOT going to happen. He had to just figure a way to make those bastards understand, that they were not allowed to touch Akane. In anyway.

Ranma had spent the rest of the period imagining creative ways to convince those delinquents to give up their useless, stupid, idiotic, pointless, pathetic crushes on Akane. Didn't any of them understand that they had zero chance with her? Just thinking about it was aggravating Ranma.

He realized he was getting carried away when he crushed the corner of his desk into dust. Several people gave him wary looks while tried to edge their desks away from him.

Ignoring the looks, he kept his hands clenched on his lap for the remainder of the period and gave a half-hearted attempt at focusing on the lecture. As soon as the lunch bell rang, Ranma left quickly to get some much needed fresh air.

Akane, on the other hand, had decided to eat lunch inside. She wanted to avoid the possibility of anyone challenging her during her lunch period. She ate mainly alone and in silence; Yuka and Sayuri had volunteered to spread the word on Akane's refusal to accept any challenges that involved her personal life. She was interrupted a couple of times by people who wanted to verify the authenticity of the new rumors. For once, she had to be thankful to the high school rumor mill for being able to disseminate information so quickly. Even Nabiki had come by to get all the details, writing it down in her "book" and updating whatever odds she kept in there. The conversation with Nabiki had left her feeling depressed and she was glad when lunch was over and class began so she would have something else to focus on.

That afternoon, Akane had walked home alone. She slipped by Ranma unnoticed as he was busy talking to some boys. She was emotionally exhausted after her long day of trying to reign in her temper and dealing with the fallout from the wedding. All she needed were a few minutes of quiet to get herself together. There were things she needed to accomplish and she needed her wits about her if she was going to succeed. She glanced up, when she noticed that the cloud above her seemed to moving with her. It had been a perfectly nice day and she wondered if one of Nerima's sudden down pours were coming in. She groaned as she realized she was most definitely not looking at a cloud.

The large and very odd figure of Pantyhose Taro landed in front of her. Remembering their first encounter, Akane took a slightly defensive stance in case he decided another kidnapping was in order. To her surprise, he pulled out a thermos from his the pantyhose utility belt around he fastened around his waist. When she realized that what he was intending to do, she closed her eyes.

"Hey, where's femboy?"

Akane eyebrow rose as she stared at her new companion. '_How did he pull on his clothes so quickly? And why had I never thought of just carrying a thermos of hot water around in case Ranma needed it?_' Still annoyed from earlier events, Akane replied acidly, "well, hello and good afternoon to you too, Taro. I'm fine, thank you for asking. And how have you been?"

Pantyhose Taro simply rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively, before saying, "yeah, yeah. Do you know where the tranny is or don't you?"

Patience waning, the vein on Akane's forehead started to pulse. Gritting her teeth, she sent one last glare at Pantyhose before stepping around him and proceeding home.

Not being the most observant male, even Pantyhose could see that this girl was upset. Unfortunately for him, he was also not the brightest crayon in the box and proceeded to sneer, "what's got your panties in a bunch?"

Akane stopped a few feet way of him. Staring at her back, he could saw her body stiffen, her head bowed and her battle aura start to glow. Pantyhose took a cautious step back as Akane whirled around and closed the distance between them. Poking his chest with her index finger, she ranted, "I don't know who you think you are talking to me that way. Has it ever occurred to you that you would get some help if you were just NICE to people? No, obviously not! Tell me, has your method of kidnapping people and forcing people to do what you want gotten you anywhere? Of course not! You're not the only one who has problems, so don't push your crap onto me!"

Akane finished her tirade with one last poke of his chest and he swore he could see steam coming out of her ears. Gulping, Taro had the decency to look slightly ashamed. He wasn't used to dealing with irate women and suddenly felt some sympathy for Ranma having tp deal with this from not just one woman but three. Clearing his throat, he said, "Fine. I'm sorry. Alright?"

Having finally had somewhere to vent her frustrations, Akane felt slightly better but a little sheepish. This controlling her temper thing was going to take a lot of work. Sure Taro was a jerk but she could admit he was just a scapegoat. "It's...I'm...Look. It's been a long day and you caught me at a bad time. Just, forget it ok?"

She turned around and walked away and was surprised when Taro fell into step beside her. "Umm...do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Ok, well...umm...," not good with comforting someone, Taro had no idea what to say.

"You know, I was serious about one thing, people would be more inclined to help you if you were nice to them."

"Pfft. No offense, but what could you do to help me when your girlfriend couldn't?"

Ignoring the disparaging remark, Akane went on to say, "more than you realize."

"Wait, what? How are you gonna get that old bastard to change my name?"

"Well...," no a little more uncertain, she didn't know how much to tell Taro. "I've been working things out and I think I found a way to get Grandfather to...alter some of his behavior. I _may _be able to work in changing your name."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Akane sighed, she wasn't really prepared to address the issue today but she had no good reason to put it off either. The plan would work or it wouldn't. "Nothing. Come on, let's head to my place."

They walked in silence as Akane tried to figure out how to get Taro to fit into her plans. This could get really complicated but she thought it could work.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked it. I've always thought Akane to be a little on the sarcastic side, or at least thinking sarcastic things during the events of the series, so I've brought that out in the way she's dealing with people. I have a list of issues that will be addressed throughout the story but some things will take longer to get to than others. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. If you can, please leave a review. Thanks for reading!

And quick thanks to Ryu238 for the suggesting I take on semi-rational when describing Ranma's excuses for some of the situations he finds himself in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As they entered the gate Akane asked Taro, "do you wanna come in?"

Taro, not wanting to waste time socializing or with pleasantries, said, "no offense, but not really."

"Ok, well go ahead into the dojo and I will see if Grandfather is home."

As she walked into the house, Akane called out, "I'm home!"

"Welcome home, Akane!" Unsurprisingly, Kasumi's voice came from the kitchen.

"Hi, Kasumi. Do you know if Grandfather is home?" Akane asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Grandfather?" Surprised, Kasumi quirked her eyebrow. "Yes, I think he's in his room. He got back from a "training" trip pretty late and had to take a nap. I believe he should be awake now."

"Thanks, Kasumi." Leaving the kitchen, Akane rounded the corner and knocked on Happosai's bedroom door, "Grandfather, are you awake?"

The door burst open anda diminutive flying figure leapt at Akane, "sweet little Akane, you've come to see me!"

Instinctively putting her book bag in front of her, Happosai was stopped a foot from his goal. "Good afternoon, Grandfather," Akane said sweetly. "I had something I'd like to talk to you about. Would you come to the dojo with me?"

"Of course!" Following happily, his smile faded into a frown when he saw they were to be joined by Taro. "What's that ungrateful brat doing here?"

Taro was stopped from replying by the look Akane threw at him. "He's here as my guest. Like I said, there are things I would like to discuss and some of it has to do with Taro."

"I'm sorry, Akane. There is nothing you can offer me that would make me want to change his name. It's a wonderful name and he should be happy to have it!" Happosai turned and started towards the door.

"Not even some new pretties?"

This stopped Happosai mid-stride, right arm in mid swing and left leg still in the air. Putting his foot down, he turned slowly. "New pretties?"

"Yes."

"Akane, as much as I would like a pair of your pretties, getting a pair, even willingly given, wouldn't be enough."

"How about more than one pair?" Happosai seemed to be giving the suggestion some thought. "And not just from me."

Interest piqued, he asked, "How many and from whom?"

Smiling, Akane was, for once, glad that she had gone through so many negotiations with Nabiki.

* * *

Ranma had barely made it home for dinner. He spent much of his afternoon at various team practices and club meetings. It took some time, but he needed to talk to as many of the different groups of boys as possible and _try_ to convince them that their engagement was in fact still valid. Most seemed to accept the situation quickly but he also knew that some of his words fell on deaf ears.

Once seated at the table, he was pleased to note that Akane seemed happy.

"Akane, will you please get Grandfather for me?"

"Sorry Kasumi, I forgot to tell you that Grandfather has left for a short training trip. He won't be back home until Friday, the earliest."

"Hear that Saotome? He's gone!"

"Yes! Let's celebrate!"

"Hey, I'm as happy as the next guy that that old fart is gone, but dancing around like that is just embarrassin. Will ya sit down, so we can eat please!"

"Fine, fine. Kasumi dear, can you get the sake, please?"

"Genma, _honey,_ don't you think you should wait until after dinner to start your celebration?"

Clearing his throat and sitting down quickly, Genma responded, "of course No-chan, of course."

The rest of dinner went by quickly, with the members of the family leaving to attend to their various activities. Checking to make sure that Ranma was busy, Akane discreetly followed Nodoka into the kitchen. "Aunty, do you need some help with the dishes?"

Once the Saotomes moved back into the Tendo home, Nodoka and Kasumi had come to an agreement regarding household chores. No one else understood their schedule or the division of labor but the two matriarchs were happy and the house was running like a finely oiled machine, so everyone else was fine being left in the dark. Today it seemed it was Nodoka's turn to do the dishes. "I'd love the help Akane."

The two women worked together in silence. As they finished up, Nodoka asked, "Akane, did you have something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes...Aunty, would you still be willing to help me with my cooking?"

Nodoka looked at Akane, who was apprehensively biting her bottom lip. "Of course, sweetie. Why don't we have some tea and talk about it? Will you please boil the water?" Relieved that this was one request she could handle, Akane smiled.

Seated at the family room table, Nodoka looked at Akane kindly. "What has you so worried Akane?"

In response, Akane laughed. "You're kidding right? Don't you remember what happened when you tried to teach me last time? I practically destroyed the kitchen."

"Yes, I remember. But forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't you manage to cook a very nice curry a while ago?" Akane was surprised that she knew. "Kasumi mentioned it to me."

"Oh. Yes, I managed to make the curry pretty well, not as good as Kasumi's but I thought it was tasty."

"And what did you do differently that day?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean."

"When you were cooking, were you alone? Were you frustrated? Happy? Calm?"

"Well, I was alone, since Kasumi went out that night, and I was in a really good mood that day. We had just gotten our midterm back and I got an A."

"Ok, and how long have you been cooking?"

"Not long, I never really tried cooking until I started home economics when I got to Furinkan."

"How did you do?"

"Not great but not terrible either."

"I see. Yes, I think we should definitely restart your cooking lessons. However, we are going to need to set-up some ground rules. Agreed?"

Akane wasn't sure what that meant but it sounded oddly ominous, "of course, Aunty."

* * *

Shampoo was sick and tired of Japan and she was done being rejected by Ranma, who treated her like some kind of leper. Didn't he realize how many men would love to get their hands on her body? He should be groveling at her feet and giving thanks for allowing him to touch her. But no, the stupid fool kept on refusing her.

The problem was, when she looked at his other options, she couldn't figure out why he was doing it. For starters, there was no way that he could be interested in the crazy gymnast. Sure she was pretty enough, had a decent body that she seemed very comfortable showing off and happened to be rich. But her laugh alone could cause a man to go soft faster than seeing her great-grandmother in a bikini. And despite what men liked to think, crazy did not always equate to being good in the sack.

The cook was obviously not a threat to her either. Sure she was also attractive, but what man would want to be with a woman who was often mistaken for a boy? If the cook was smart, she would try to show off her assets instead of binding them all the time. The one thing she had going for her was that she could cook. But it wasn't a big deal since she seemed to only be able to make one dish. Besides, Shampoo was a much better cook than that butch girl could ever hope to be.

But that...that _girl_ was a different story. From the very beginning, _she _had been a thorn in Shampoo's side. Even before she could really understand the language, she could tell by reading their body language that _she_ had some hold on Ranma. So, Shampoo did what any good Amazon would, she tried to eliminate the competition. She realized now that had been the wrong thing to do, as it only brought out his protective side.

After all this time, Shampoo still didn't get what Ranma saw in that girl. She could admit that Akane was cute and was apparently popular too. Shampoo had heard several groups of boys talking about her looks and the groups of girls would often mention her kindness. In truth, Shampoo thought they were all blind. All she saw was an angry, violent, annoying girl who couldn't cook and could barely be called a martial artist. Not to mention she physically had very little to be proud of.

Unlike her own voluptuous figure.

Shampoo stood in front of the mirror and stared at herself. She had spent a lot of time getting herself ready that evening but it was worth it. She looked spectacular. Her hair was thick, shiny, and it flowed around her body with every turn of her head. Her make-up had been applied flawlessly, emphasizing her luscious lips and bedroom eyes. The outfit she picked out for the night displayed her body to perfection. Her breasts were barely contained, standing perky and proud. Her midsection was bare, showing how narrow and toned her stomach was. Every inch of her silky smooth legs were available for perusal. With one last smirk, she pulled her robe on, tying it loosely, put on her delicate slippers and headed for the door.

Tonight, she would seduce Ranma and then soon, she would finally be able to go home. Once Ranma got to experience a night with a real woman, he would forget all about the silly little girls around him. And when they got back to her village, she planned to use these skills to keep him in line; by rewarding him with pleasure when he was well behaved and denying him when he was not. After all, men were really simple creatures.

She knew she had to tread carefully tonight, but she had a plan. And THIS time, her plan would work.

* * *

Ranma had gone to bed that night after working himself to near exhaustion and for someone who was in top physical shape, that was saying something. He couldn't explain the frustration that was welling up inside of him. Normally, he was able to let things go but he recognized how easily agitated he was becoming.

Everything for him had changed when he thought Akane was dead. The first time. When he saw Akane turning that kinjakan and suddenly disappear, he thought she had died. And something inside him died too. He'd never felt so numb, so empty before. At that moment, everything else ceased to matter. He had no idea what happened next. All he could remember was the Guide trying to take away the only thing he had left of Akane. There had been a flash of anger though that fell quickly into despair.

What was the point? It'd didn't matter if they took the clothing that she was wearing. It wasn't hers. He would always imagine her in her school uniform, which really did nothing for her but somehow still looked perfect on her.

He'd never see her smile again. That one perfect smile that always made his heart race. The smile that offered him friendship so easily. The smile that he fell in love with instantaneously. That smile was gone, forever. So nothing else mattered.

Then miraculously, the Guide showed him the doll and said Akane was still alive. Relief coursed through him and he knew he had a chance to save her. Vowing that nothing would stand in his way, he fought like he never had before to bring her back to him. He had fought a demi-god for her and he'd do it again. He had given that arrogant bastard a chance to give him the water, to save his love, and the prick just taunted him. It was the first time he had ever taken a life and he felt no guilt. And not because Saffron was reborn. He'd do anything to save her.

When she lay in his arms, unresponsive and incredibly cold, he had believed it was too late. His only thought was to tell her how he felt. To finally be able to express his feelings but even then he fumbled. He knew that the others were around and the words he had always wanted to say to her were for her to hear alone. He'd screamed it in his head yet somehow she'd heard him, and she'd come back. He'd never felt such relief followed by terror at what he may have said. He truly was a coward and couldn't risk being rejected by the one person he loved most in the world.

Even though he couldn't tell her the truth about what he felt, he would keep the promise to protect her and to keep her safe. The people attacking them- her to get to him- wouldn't be tolerated anymore. Bombs thrown at her, so shortly after her life was in danger, became unforgivable.

After an hour or so of his thoughts slowly growing darker, Ranma knew he wasn't going to sleep. He had to calm down before he did anything too drastic. He jumped out his bedroom window so he could take a walk.

For the first time in his life, Ranma found himself meandering around their neighborhood. If there was one thing Ranma never did, it was meander. He could walk miles with a boulder on his back without getting tired, but that was training and had a purpose. The rest of his life was spent rushing from one place to another. This was new and to his surprise the mindless walking worked.

He entered a park and was soon reliving memories of a nice afternoon spent with Akane. Ranma came upon the hedge where he had handed her some roses and decided to lay on his back on a nearby patch of grass to finish his daydreaming.

Unbeknownst to Ranma, Shampoo had been following him since he'd had left the house. She was surprised to see him go and decided to follow him at a distance. When she saw that he had stopped in a secluded part of the park, she smirked. Looking around she realized they were alone and would likely not be interrupted at that time of night. Feeling bold, Shampoo loosened the knot on her robe and let it drop to the ground before stepping on the path leading to Ranma.

Ranma quickly sat upright as his instincts finally kicked in and he saw the girl walk slowly to towards him. He was annoyed when he realized who it was but then his eyes widened when he took in her appearance. Shampoo was wearing what could loosely be described as a bra but looked more like two small triangles of lace that barely covered her nipples. Even from this distance, he could tell she was cold. Her bottom half was barely covered by the tiniest pair of matching panties and she had put on a garter belt that held up black thigh high stockings that led to a pair of bright red four inch heels. Despite her many, many flaws, Shampoo was physically a young man's wet dream. He tried to look away, he really did. But he was a hot blooded 17 year old male and his big head was slowly losing the battle to his little one.

Shampoo felt triumphant. She could feel Ranma's eyes travel over her body and it was obvious any resistance he had was waning. She walked as seductively as she could towards him, running one hand through her hair and the other over her stomach.

Ranma gulped. "Whachya doin here?"

"Shampoo go see Ranma at home, saw him jump out window and follow here."

"You shouldn't try to sneak into my room."

"Shampoo want to show Ranma what like to be husband and wife. We have good time, I promise."

Ranma closed his eyes and shook his head. It was easier to think when he wasn't looking temptation in the, um…face. "No. I've already told you that I'm not interested."

When Ranma didn't receive a response, he opened his eyes and was startled to see that Shampoo was on her hand and knees, her upper body perched over his legs. She looked down pointedly at the bulge in his pants and purred, "your body say different."

Ranma looked around frantically, and tried to back up. "Are you crazy?! We're in public!"

In response, she licked her lips and lunged forward, her arms wrapping around his neck, her chest pressed against his, and her mouth moving towards his neck. He heard a faint click and two seconds later they were splashed as the sprinkler system activated.

"C-C-CAT!" could be heard in the distance as a buxom redhead ran around in circles, unsuccessfully trying to dislodge the small purple cat from his person.

* * *

Akane was deep asleep and only stirred when she heard the sounds of scratching and mewing. In her sleep laden state, it took her a few moments to figure that the sounds were coming from her bedroom door. As she opened it, she was shocked to find Ranma on all fours and soaking wet, streaking past her into her bedroom.

"Ranma?" she muttered before Ranma came to her side and started rubbing against her leg while purring. Akane knelt down and sat next to her fiancé. "Ranma, what happened to you? Why are you soaking wet? Well, come on, we'll get you to the bathroom and change you back."

Akane stood up and walked towards the furoba. When she got halfway down the hall she realized that she was alone. Returning to her room to get Ranma she found the redhead had curled up into a ball and was already half asleep on her bed. She walked over and started to gently shake him, "come on, get up." In response, Ranma purred louder and shifted his body to a slightly more comfortable position.

Akane took a moment to consider her choices. One, she could pick Ranma up, drag him to the furoba and dump him into the furo to change him back. Two, she could heat up the water and bring it back to her room, hopefully triggering the transformation and waking Ranma. Three, she could go back to bed. The first option felt like way too much effort and was kind of mean. The second option felt like it would take too much time and she really didn't want to be sitting in the cold kitchen when she could be asleep in her nice warm, slightly damp bed. Decision made, Akane crawled into the space between Ranma and the wall, falling fast asleep, her last thought being, _'he__'__s a cat _and_ a girl right now. This doesn__'__t mean anything.__'_

* * *

Akane stirred a little as the sunlight hit her face. Not wanting to get up, she turned her face to the side and snuggled down into her blanket and pulled her stuffed animal closer into her body, it felt warm and comfortable, lulling her back to sleep. It took Akane a few minutes to realize that she didn't sleep with stuffed animals anymore and even if she did have one, it wouldn't be holding her waist and trying to snuggle closer to her chest. She quickly opened her eyes to stare down at a head full of red hair and her face suddenly turned a similar shade as she took in their positions.

It took another moment for her to remember the events of last night. She tried to quickly and quietly get out of bed before Ranma woke up, but when she tried to wiggle out of his arms, Ranma would just pull her in tighter.

She stifled a giggle. She really _should _wake him up. But she was rather comfortable and didn't blame him for wanting to snuggle in tighter, the idea was oddly enticing at the moment. No one would _know _if she just stayed there for a just a _little_ while longer, would they?

Finally, looking at the time and realizing that she had to get up, she tried to wake her fiancé up. "Ranma!" She whispered, "wake up!"

Ranma stirred feeling oddly refreshed and content; he hadn't slept well since they got back from China. When they first got back, he had a few nightmares and would wake up sweating and then he would sneak into Akane's room to check up on her. After the failed wedding, his dreams changed - vivid images of his friends pulling a protesting Akane in a wedding dress away from him who would then morph into a little doll he carried around in his chest while trying to fight fire – but he'd still bolt upright when he got to the point where dream-Akane would become full size but just lying still in his arms, a small smile gracing her face.

This was the first night that he was able to sleep all the way through and his body refused to budge. He hugged his pillow closer to his body, burrowing his face into its warmth, enjoying the soft scent that was so comforting to him.

Somewhere in between sleep and consciousness, he recognized someone calling his name.

"Hmm, fibe mo minnets," Ranma responded while rubbing her face against the softness of the pillow.

Now becoming beet red, Akane shook the boy lightly and said in a louder voice, "Ranma! Wake up!"

"Don't wanna, too comfy."

Having to stifle a moan at the sensations his unintentional motor boating was causing her, Akane took some calming breaths. It wouldn't do to wake up the entire house and she needed to get him out of her room before anyone found them in this position.

She was just about to try pinching Ranma, when he said, "this is the best dream," as he rubbed his face against her once more.

'_What exactly, was he dreaming of?_' She wondered and her thoughts started to run away from her. Now getting hot all over she hissed, "Ranma. RANMA!"

Ranma was having a very nice dream about the previous evening. Only, in his dream it was Akane perched over him, her eyes lingering on his excitement as she slowly lifted her eyes towards him and made her way over his body. Engrossed in the watching the girl in front of him he barely felt someone shaking his shoulder. He shook the feeling off, not wanting to be disturbed but the person was frustratingly persistent. Turning his head to tell the person to go to hell, he looked up to see who could be bothering him at a time like this, when he realized he was looking at Akane.

Wait, Akane? Wasn't she…then reality hit him, he threw his head back as far as possible, loosening his grip and tumbling off the bed.

He was starting to exclaim, "I'M.." when a hand came down and covered his mouth.

"Shhhh! You'll wake everyone up!"

He looked around frantically, "what ...why…am I in your room?" He whispered.

Akane blushed, "you were…it doesn't matter! You need to go before someone catches you in here!" Ranma face paled and he nodded his understanding. He stepped towards the door before he heard Akane hiss, "Idiot, use the window! The window!"

Ranma rubbed the back of his head awkwardly with one hand, "Umm. Sorry." He was out the window a second later.

* * *

After Ranma had snuck out of her room, Akane dressed quickly and dashed off for her run, hoping to expel some of her pent up energy. After her run had done little to calm her, she forced herself to take a cold shower.

Breakfast that morning was a little awkward. Akane had been so embarrassed that she refused to make eye contact. Following her example, Ranma had also eaten quickly and they left for school. Knowing that she had to broach the subject soon she was about to break the silence, but was surprised when Ranma beat her to it.

"Umm, hey Akane?"

"Yes, Ranma?"

"Umm, sorry 'bout earlier. Ummm. I didn't...I mean..."

"Don't worry about it Ranma. It was kinda my fault."

Looking slightly relieved, Ranma said, "really? Do ya mind tellin' me what happened? A-and how I ended up in...," he cleared his throat, "your...ummm...bed?"

"Well I don't really know how you got into Neko mode. But sometime late last night, or was it early this morning? Well it doesn't matter…. I woke up and heard mewing at my door and what sounded like scratching. When I opened the door, you came in, acting...well, you know, like a cat."

"Ok, but...how did I end up in..."

"That's where it was kinda my fault. I was really tired and groggy, I mean really tired. You kind of bound in and jumped on my bed. I told you to follow me to the furoba but when I got down the hall, you weren't there. By the time I got back you were asleep. Obviously, I was really tired and I should have taken you to the furoba or gotten some hot water from the kitchen but I just really wanted to go to sleep. And you were curled into a ball, I had _no idea _that you would end up, well umm...you know...the way you did." Akane finally finished with a slightly red face.

Ranma was looking at Akane with some shock, was it just him or was she acting embarrassed? It was obvious from her little verbal spew that his fiancée was flustered but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why. He remembered waking up and seeing her face but that was all. Did something else happen? Was she hiding it? If she didn't want to tell him, he figured he didn't need to know.

"It's ok. Sorry, I bothered you last night."

They walked a little further in silence before Akane asked, "so, what happened? How did you end up in Neko mode?"

"Ummm. Well, last night I couldn't sleep and I went for a walk to clear my head. I ended up at the park and suddenly Shampoo showed up in..." Ranma paused, he really didn't want to describe to Akane what Shampoo was wearing, much less how she acted. "Well, she just showed up. When I told her to leave, she jumped at me and just got her tentacles on me when the sprinklers started. And you know, she just wouldn't let go! That's really the last thing I remember."

Ranma looked sideways at Akane, afraid that she would be mad at him for being with Shampoo last night, but it really wasn't his fault! To his surprise, Akane burst out laughing.

"Geez, Ranma. I don't know how you do it. It's like you end up in one really awkward situation after another. Are you sure the Jusenkyo curse is the only one you received during your training?"

Ranma, unsure of how to respond, for once made the smart decision to stay quiet. It was then that he remembered that he wanted to ask Akane about the morning attacks. "So, 'kane, what happened yesterday? I know the reason they attacked you but why didn't you fight back?"

Akane explained her theory to Ranma., He was surprised by her logic but was supportive, telling her that her plan may work. He had intentionally avoided telling her about his conversations with the boys at school the day before.

Realizing they were getting close to school, Akane took a deep breath and started a conversation she wished she could avoid. "Umm. But there's this one thing. I don't know if I can successfully dodge Kuno. I mean, I'm sure I can but he's strong enough that I may actually have to strike back, which would ruin the plan. I was lucky yesterday, he seemed so shocked I wasn't fighting that he never attacked. So...Ranma, I need you to do me a favor." Swallowing her pride proved more difficult than she had thought. "I need you to take care of Kuno for me."

Shocked, Ranma had stopped walking and gaped at her. Did he hear her right? Did Akane actually ask him to fight her fight for her? This was surely the sign of the apocalypse right? Ranma glanced up to see if the sky was falling. Then he glanced down to make sure that the ground wouldn't split open and swallow him whole.

When Ranma looked like he wasn't going to respond, Akane felt her heart sink. Was he looking around like that so he could avoid her gaze? She didn't think she would really have to try hard to get Ranma to beat up Kuno, who was a constant annoyance to them both. "You know, it's okay. You don't have to do anything, I'll figure it out."

"Huh? What'ya talkin bout? Of course I'll take care of Kuno for ya. I mean, you're right, a chick as slow as you would never be able to avoid his attacks. Now, if you trained more and got a lil faster, like my female side, _maybe_ you'd have a chance."

Now walking beside his fiancée again, Ranma obliviously missed Akane's fist clenching and the rigid way she was holding herself. With gritted teeth, Akane seethed, "thanks a lot Ranma."

He blithely replied, "no problem! After all, it's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak."

Fortunately for Ranma's physical wellbeing, not to mention Akane's temper, they neared the school and both heard the now familiar battle cry of delusional boys preparing for their daily challenge. Picking up her pace Akane surged forward dodging all the boys expertly. She saw Kuno, who was for once, in the middle of the pack of boys, she was able to step just left of his swing, and trusting that Ranma was behind her and ready to take over, she ignored his next attempt, running full speed ahead, only stopping when she reached the top of the stairs. Looking backwards, she saw Ranma hands in his pockets standing on Kuno's head, while the kendoist was spread eagle, face pressed into the ground, a broken bokken lying next to him. Akane gave Ranma a nod and a small grateful smile before heading into the building.

Blushing slightly at the smile he received from Akane, Ranma stared at her until she disappeared into the building before looking around him. He was peeved that the attacks occurred for a second day but slightly mollified by the fact that only a few of the people he spoke to yesterday had shown up today. In fact, now that he took a quick count, he realized that the boys standing around only accounted for half of the people that had participated yesterday. Ranma paid special attention to sports uniforms and faces of the boys in attendance so that he could have chats with them later on before following behind his petite fiancée.

He blithely walked down the length of Kuno's body, making sure to dig his heels in with every step. Normally he'd feel guilty for kicking a man while he was down but there was plenty of residual anger he had towards the wannabe lothario for his part in the wedding disaster, so he made an exception.

* * *

Ranma eyes were trained on the wall clock. A couple more minutes and it would finally be lunch time. He was hoping he could spend the time with Akane today since she was bound to be solicitous towards him after the help he gave her this morning. He thought of her smile she this morning and suddenly felt smug. He loved when Akane acknowledged his skills and more so when she showed him appreciation for his efforts, even when it was a simple as that smile she had graced him with. Lost in thought, he missed the teacher announcing lunch and the bell, and was shaken out of his daydream by someone bumping his desk on their way out the door. He turned around to Akane's desk to find that she was already gone. Looking around, he noticed that she was already in the corner of the room with half a dozen girls and deep in conversation.

Disappointed, he decided to have lunch outside and then talk to as many of the morning challengers as he could find.

* * *

Once again, Akane found herself walking home from school alone. It had been another long day for her but unlike yesterday, she was invigorated instead of tired. She blushed a little as she began to review her day and remembered the very nice way in which it had it had begun. She hadn't shared a bed with anyone since she was a little kid and then, her sisters never cuddled up with her. It was so nice waking up wrapped in his arms. Though she was embarrassed to think about how much his face resting between her breasts affected her.

She shook her head, this was no time for those thoughts. She had other things to accomplish and wanted to keep her wits about her. She saw her quarry up ahead, waiting impatiently for her. "Good afternoon, Taro."

"Hey. So, what happened after you kicked me out yesterday?"

Akane rolled her eyes at his lack of greeting and his obvious annoyance. After half an hour in the same room with Happosai and Taro yesterday, Akane realized that having Taro being baited by Happosai was making negotiations harder. She wisely decided to send him away with instructions to meet her at the bridge today.

"Well, after you left I finally got him to agree to terms that I think we can all be happy with."

Taro stood up straight, excitement pouring off him, "really?"

"Yes. Do you want to hear all of it or just your part?"

He didn't really care about the rest of it but knew better than to say that, she was helping him out after all. "All of it."

Surprised but pleased Akane began to tell Taro about what she had started to call the Panty Treaty. "Grandfather has agreed to change your name and stop the panty raids at the school - which includes not peeping in the showers. Actually, we agreed that he would only be allowed on school grounds once a month, just to keep him away from temptation. Additionally, he has agreed that he will no longer interrupt _anyone_ in the furoba at my house. In exchange, I have to get the all the girls at school to give him one 'pretty'. I'll be organizing all the homeroom classes on a yearly schedule so that Grandfather has a new supply every month and each girl only has to make one 'donation' a year. The first trade will occur the following Monday, so I have until then to get everyone to agree."

Taro was impressed by her forethought but saw several blaring wholes in her plan. "You put a lot of thought into this huh?"

"Yes."

"And how much did you have to change your plans so they included me?"

"Surprisingly, not much. I knew it would have to be something big to get him to stay away from the school and I had been planning on something like this."

"What if they don't agree? What if they give him something he doesn't think is fitting? What happens if he decides that he isn't happy with just one 'donation' as you call it?"

"Well, I have it all planned but you shouldn't be too worried about it, not your part at least. He's agreed to change your name after he receives half of the pretties from the first group. After that, I suggest you leave quickly and avoid him at all costs. Like, for the rest of your life. He can't change your name if he doesn't see you. And I couldn't get him to agree to never change your name again, sorry."

"Ok. But how are you going to get the girls to go along with it? And do they trust him?"

"I already talked to some girls today. Surprisingly, they were easy to convince. They are just as tired as I am of not being able to change and shower in peace. I'll talk to the rest of the class tomorrow and work on talking to the rest of the school this week, let me worry about that. I had Happosai take a short training trip for the week as a sign of good faith that he will stop his peeping. So the girls get at least a one week reprieve from the madness."

Suspicious by nature, Taro asked, "So, they were just willing to help me out?"

"No, they weren't." Akane looked a little sheepish at this. "Some of them wondered why you were getting something for nothing. So, I had to find a compromise. Each girl who donates that month, gets to request your services for one chore. It has to be reasonable, so don't worry about being made a slave or anything." She waved her hand dismissively.

"What kind of chore?"

"Well, my friend Sayuri just broke up with her boyfriend - she found him cheating on her..."

"So, she wants me to beat him up?"

Akane rolled her eyes, "no. She wants you to take her on a date at the restaurant where he works, so she can rub it in his face. She'll pay. Another one of the girls has a brother who is moving into a new apartment the following week and wants you to help lift furniture. The rest of the girls are going to need time to think about it."

Taro thought it over. There really didn't seem to be a downside for him. Sure he could have a lot of work coming up but he didn't mind physical labor. And the sadistic side of him thought the fake date sounded kinda fun, he loved riling people up. It would all be worth it if he could finally be called Awesome. "Ok. I'm in."

"Great. You know, it would help me convince everyone else, if you showed up tomorrow after school and took Sayuri on that date. It'll be another sign of good faith, like Grandfather staying away this week."

"Sure. That's fine. Tell her I'll meet her after school." Taro proceeded to walk her home in the best mood he'd been in for a long time. "So, what do you want out of all this?"

Akane looked at him confused, "I don't understand. I told you what I'm getting out of the deal."

"Yes, from Happosai. What about from me?"

"Oh, that? Ummm. Nothing really." She smirked, "trust me, I can do my own heavy lifting."

Eyebrow quirked, Taro stopped her. "Look, I know you didn't need to help me out. You're plan would've worked without me. My part is just icing on the cake but it's not even your icing. So seriously, what do you want. I owe you for this."

Akane was a little surprised, Taro had always seemed like a brash jerk that would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. But she realized that he too was a martial artist and his pride required him to repay favors. "Well, to be honest, I don't need anything from you but I have something you can do. Stop with the name calling when you talk to Ranma?"

"What?"

"The name calling. Look, I know you guys need something to taunt each other with, I get that. Just lay off the names that have to do with his curse. No more femboy, tranny, or calling him a girl. Can you do that for me?"

Taro shrugged, "sure. There are plenty of other things I could call him."

"That's the spirit."

As they reached the gates of the dojo, Taro asked, "Are you sure there isn't anything I can do for you, specifically? I still feel like I am getting a lot more than I am giving here."

Akane laughed, "Look, having one less person have a reason to kidnap me is good enough. Not unless you want to spar with me, of course. I could always use a sparring partner," she joked.

"Sparring? Doesn't fem...Ranma spar with you?"

"No, Ranma dodges and evades, he never really attacks or hits me. You know, forget it. I was just kidding, I'm sure you don't want to spar with me." '_No one does__'__, _she thought sadly.

Taro crossed his arms, "sparring it is. When do you want to start?"

"Really? You'll spar with me?" Akane bounced up and down, excitedly. "I was just about to do some katas but sparring sounds so much better. Wanna meet me in the dojo? I'm gonna change real quick."

"Actually, I prefer it if we did it outdoors. It feels more like a natural combat environment to me. Do you have a park or something we can use?"

"Actually, there is an abandoned lot that would be perfect for this, we passed it in the way here. It's three blocks down," she pointed in front of her, "make a left and three blocks over. I'm going to change and meet you there." She then turned and raced into the house before he could change his mind.

Akane had sweat dripping down her face, smudges of dirt all over her gi, and was panting with exhaustion. She was sure that she'd be completely sore tomorrow and would have a spectacular bruise on her ribs along with some minor cuts on her arms. She had just landed on her hip after successfully blocking a kick and unsuccessfully blocking the punch that followed. She could feel another bruise forming on the hip she fell on.

The petite martial artist was having the time of her life.

They had been sparring for over half an hour. At first, she was afraid that Taro wasn't taking her seriously; his movements were slow and tentative. She quickly realized that he was testing her abilities, never having seen her in a fight. Once he had gauged her skill levels, he began to spar with her in earnest.

She was happy to see that he had no issues hitting her because she was a girl. Akane was surprised to learn that while he was baiting her, he wasn't demeaning her skills in anyway. In fact, he encouraged her when she did well and gave her suggestions on how to modify her movements or improve her strategy where he could.

Taro had walked over to her and was just leaning down to help her up when he was suddenly thrown across the abandoned lot. A red and black clad figure stood between them, battle aura ablaze.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked how Akane plans to deal with Happosai. Big thanks to **PepperonyOwl** for being my pre-reader. I have no idea how she found the time with as much as she writes. If you haven't read any of her stories, get to it, you're missing some fantastic pieces.

If you like the cover art for the story, it was created by **Lady Tiger Lily**, who kindly gave me permission to use it. She has an account on Deviant Art, check it out if you can, her pictures are freaking adorable.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ranma left school with a spring in his step. It had been easier than he thought to convince the rest of the morning attackers that their engagement was still valid. The combination of Akane refusing all "challenges" and his loud and threatening conversations with the culprits had done the trick. Hopefully, the only person who would be attacking Akane in the mornings now was Kuno. Since he never gave up his challenges the first time around, this didn't change anything.

Walking home rather pleased with himself, he heard the familiar sounds of flesh hitting flesh that any martial artist would recognize; it meant a fight was taking place. Looking around, he realized he was right near the empty lot Ryoga sometimes camped out in. Curious as to whom the combatants were, he rounded corner and easily recognized Pantyhose Taro who was sending a kick at...

He froze when he recognized his fiancée trying to defend herself. His heart started beating wildly as he thought, _I'll kill that bastard if he lays a finger on her. _Unwillingly, he acknowledged that Akane was handling herself rather well. That thought ended quickly whenhe saw Taro land a punch on her pectorals, causing her to fall and hit the ground violently.

Vision going red, he saw Taro walk towards Akane and reach down to grab her. Acting on instinct, he ran forward, not even sensing his ki increase as he punched Taro in the face, and sending him flying across the lot. He then took a defensive stance in front of the blue-haired girl still on the ground.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Ranma?"

"You can't possibly think I'd tolerate you kidnapping her again!"

"Ranma!"

He moved forward as Pantyhose got up off the ground, only stopping when he felt a small, familiar hand on his chest. Not bothering to look down he said, "Akane, move. I don't want you to get hurt."

"No, Ranma."

"Why the hell not? He was attacking you!"

"Ranma, he wasn't."

"That's right, I wasn't doing anything to her that she didn't want," Pantyhose smirked, purposely letting his eyes roam over the girl that stood between them. He was mad as hell at getting sucker punched and was itching to hit that pussy in the face. Pissing him off was just a bonus.

Narrowing his eyes, Ranma put his hands on Akane's shoulders in an attempt to move her to the side but was stopped by her struggles. Taking his eyes off Pantyhose for the first time, he looked down to see Akane, her eyes full with concern.

"Ranma, stop. Please," she pleaded.

Ranma looked at her confused. _Why would she be trying stopping him? The only other time she got in the middle of one of my fights, it was to protect Shinnosuke. _His eyes widened. _NO! She couldn't possibly... _

"Yeah, listen to her like a good little boy."

"Taro! You're not helping. I think you should leave."

Taro shrugged. He really wanted to continue this fight but he wasn't willing to alienate the one person who was instrumental in getting his name changed. If he couldn't attack Ranma physically, he would at least attack him verbally and piss him off. And everyone knew that when it came to Ranma, there was one sure way to get him riled up.

"Anything you say, sweet cheeks. I'll see you after school tomorrow for that date we talked about." With that parting shot, he wiggled his eyebrows at Ranma before walking towards the street, laughing on the inside. If looks could kill, he'd already be six feet under.

Ranma could feel his whole body start to shake in anger. There was no way he could actually mean he had a date with Akane, right? But then why would he be LOOKING at her like that.

"Date? Are you going to tell me what's happening? What date? When the hell did you start hanging around with him? Why did he say date? When the HELL did he start doing what you tell him? What does he mean he is going on a DATE with YOU?"

Akane sighed, "Ranma, calm down. I can explain about the date..."

"SO THERE IS A DATE?"

"Yes, but..."

"NO! No buts!"

"Ranma..."

"There is NOT going to be a date!"

"I'm trying..."

"No way in hell!"

"Please listen..."

"I won't allow it!"

"...what?"

"You heard me! I won't let you go on a date with him!"

"Let me?"

"That's right!"

"_Let _me?"

"You'll go over my dead body!"

"LETme? Who do you think you are?"

"YOUR fiancé, that's who!"

"That's right, you're my _fiancé_. You are NOT my husband. You are definitely NOT my father. You have NO right to 'allow' me to do anything!" She narrowed her eyes and poked him in the chest with her index finger.

"And let's get one thing straight right now, Ranma Saotome," poke, "when we do get married one day, you would still have no right to TELL," poke, "ME," poke, "WHAT," poke, "TO," poke, "DO!"

She emphasized the point by bringing both fists down to her sides and proceeded to storm off.

Ranma stared at the angry girl's back as she stalked off. He was still angry and if he were honest, just a little bit scared, but mainly confused. He still had no idea what the hell was going on.

Taking a deep breath he looked around, trying to find something, anything that would give him a clue. Finding nothing, he decided to follow Akane home...at a slight distance. Despite what people thought of him, he really was able to learn from his mistakes and knew that this would be a bad time to further irritate his fiancée.

Unfortunately for him, he still didn't learn the importance of listening carefully.

* * *

Akane marched the entire way home and barely managed to restrain herself from slamming the front door behind her. Stomping her way upstairs to get a clean pair of clothes and a towel, she then headed for the furoba. She sat on the stool, furiously scrubbing the sweat and dirt, not to mention a layer of skin, from her body.

_I can't believe he thinks he can tell me what I can and cannot do. I don't care how much I love him, I will NOT be someone he can just order around. _

After rinsing off and sitting down in the warm water, she let herself enjoy the way her muscles loosened up. She hadn't been able to take a long quiet soak since Happosai came to town, always fearing being walked in on.

_All the work I'm going to have to put into this will be worth it if I can spend more time like this. _

Her thoughts slowly turned back towards her fiancé and his reaction to the Taro. It was so obvious that Taro was trying to annoy Ranma by insinuating they had a date planned. She had tried, really tried to stay calm and it had worked; up to a certain point. All she had wanted to do was explain, but then he started yelling at her and telling her what to do. Which caused her to completely lose it.

But she really didn't understand why he was so worked up over it. He should know she'd never go out on a date with someone else. She never dated, not unless you counted her revenge dates with Ryoga, and she certainly didn't. So why get upset?

Letting herself sink further into the water until it reached her mouth, she began blowing on the surface, causing small ripples to form around her.

Could it be possible that he was jealous? Ranma was always a little possessive with her when it came to other men but he'd been like that pretty much since they met. She'd always thought it was some sort of male ego thing; he didn't want anyone messing with what was his, even if he didn't want it himself. Which was pretty childish but no one ever accused her fiancé of being mature.

Ranma jealous; it wasn't an absurd idea. She remembered he had reacted in a similar way to Shinnosuke when he thought she was leaving him. He had yelled and demanded to know why she would choose Shinnosuke over him. Wasn't that what he was doing earlier?

Influenced by the calm surrounding her, she let her mind drift to what happened at the end of their trip to Ryugenzawa. Ranma had risked his life to save her, even when he thought she had picked someone else. Then she had gone and done the same thing, risking her life to save his. She did it without pause, without thought, without remorse, and she'd do it again in a heartbeat.

It was also the first time he really showed her affection. Akane's lips quirked into a smile as she remembered him slowly and anxiously offering her his hand. At first she was confused by his slow jerky motions, but when she realized what he intended, her heart felt like it would burst with happiness. They spent their entire trip home holding hands, only reluctantly separating when they reached the platform for Nerima.

She smiled at the memories. It _was_ flattering that he cared enough to get jealous and suddenly she wasn't angry anymore. Actually she was a little pleased; not at his ordering her about, but because he was always so protective of her.

She wouldn't admit it but she knew exactly what kind of stupidity jealousy brought out in a person. The rest of her bath was spent in quiet contemplation and day dreams. By the time she sat down for dinner, she had already forgiven him.

* * *

Ranma was fully prepared to deal with an angry Akane at dinner. He just didn't know which angry Akane he was going to be faced with. Would she be the fuming girl that would use any excuse to lash out at him? Or would she be cold and silent, pretending he didn't exist? He hoped it was the former. While her anger was a force to be reckoned with, he absolutely couldn't stand being ignored by her.

He was surprised to see Akane looking perfectly happy when she reached the table. She had come in with a smile on her face and greeted everyone. Including him.

That did it, he was officially worried. She'd been acting strange lately and this was the final straw. First, she left him in the clutches of the handsy Amazon. Then she asked him to fight Kuno for her. Somehow she started to hang out with Taro.

And now? Now she was behaving perfectly normal after screaming at him just an hour ago. Not to mention that she hadn't even hit him. Come to think about it, she hadn't hit him in days!

No something was seriously wrong.

Maybe when she rehydrated something went haywire. Whatever it was he'd get to the bottom of it.

He'd make sure she was okay. It was his job to protect her and he wouldn't fail her again.

* * *

After dinner, Akane went to her room to do some homework. She had to not only complete her current assignments but also the ones she had missed while she was in China. Thankfully, her teachers had been rather understanding about her absence and gave her some leeway on when they could be handed in.

She had just finished an essay for her history class and was putting her books away when she heard a knock on the door. Not bothering to look up she said, "come in."

When she heard the door open but no one respond, she looked over and saw a pigtailed figure leaning on doorframe. She looked at him expectantly but he remained still and quiet. He was looking at her and searching for something but what, she didn't know. "Ranma? Did you need something?"

The sound of her voice seemed to shake him from his contemplation. "Yeah, I just…well...are you feeling ok, 'kane?"

"I feel fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure." She quirked her head to the side, "why? What's going on?"

"I dunno. You just seem different lately. I…just wanna make sure that…well, nothing's wrong. Ya know, after…"

The pair had avoided speaking about China and it took her a moment to understand the origin of his concern. When realization hit, her eyes softened, "Ranma, I'm fine. Really. There were no lasting effects. Don't worry."

"But then why…what's going on?"

"It's nothing."

"That's not true. Please, don't lie to me."

What should she tell him? How much _could_ she tell him?

Tell him too much and she could push him away. He wasn't ready to have _that _conversation and telling him that she was trying to change, to better herself for their future would definitely lead to _that_ conversation. Tell him too little and he'd know she was keeping something from him.

Choosing her words wisely she said, "I had a lot of time to...think recently. And, I guess it was time to make some changes. That's all," she shrugged.

"That's all?"

"Yup."

"So all this…being…" Ranma cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head, "you know, ummm calm and the," he gestured in her direction, "way you…umm look. It's all stuff you want to do? It's all part of this plan?"

"Yes." To lighten the mood, she smiled and added, "no magic mushrooms. No remote shiatsu techniques. No doll possessions. I promise."

Ranma was skeptical but understood her desire to make a change. Hadn't he had the same thoughts the other night? The difference seemed to be she knew what to do while he was still trying to figure it out.

Until he knew what he wanted for himself, he thought it best not to dig too deeply, much as he wanted to. So, he'd accept her answer for now but would still keep an eye her just to be safe.

"I was just about to start our math homework. You wanna join me?" When Ranma made a face, she pouted. "Well, how about we make a deal? If we both get our homework done, I'll treat you to ice-cream after school tomorrow."

Ranma's face lit up at the thought of getting treated to a sundae without having to flirt with some pervert first. Plus getting to spend an afternoon with his tomboy? He was all ready to say yes when he remembered what started their fight in the first place. His face fell and his eyes narrowed as he sneered, "won't that put a crimp in your date tomorrow?"

To his indignation, Akane laughed. "Are you still hung up on that? Come on, you can't really think I have a date with Taro tomorrow, do you?"

_Yes, _he thought. Unwilling to appear even more foolish he simply said, "fine then. Explain."

Seeing that he was starting to get tense, she quickly told him about the Panty Treaty and Taro's involvement.

"ARE YOU INSANE? You CAN'T just give him your panties!"

Arms crossed, eyebrow raised, Akane said warningly, "I _can't?_"

Realizing he was treading on thin ice, he replied, "you know what I mean! You don't really want him to get his hands on you 'pretties' do you?"

Akane sighed. She was glad he backed down from his statement because she was not in the mood for another argument. "No, of course not. But I'm tired of having to bathe in a swim suit. Tired of having to set up traps outside the locker room windows and placing guards by the doors just so I can change for gym. You know he'll end up stealing my underwear anyways. This way everyone gets something they want. It's not perfect but in my opinion, some peace and quiet is worth one pair of underwear." When he only continued to glare at her, she threw up her arms and added, "if you have a better idea, I'd be happy to hear it!"

"I could just keep beating him up!"

"If you haven't noticed, that's not working," she ground out. Taking a deep breath, she added, "can we just try this, please? Even if he changes his mind and goes back on his word next month or even next week, we would have had all that time without being disturbed. He's gone right now because of the agreement and you can't tell me you aren't enjoying it."

Ranma absolutely hated the idea of giving into the old fart. But he knew she was right. Their fathers had yet to come up with a way to handle their delinquent master. Ranma had at least challenged the pervert but that did nothing to either curb or change his actions. Akane really had come up with the best idea so far and he owed it to her to give it a try. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

She gave him a beaming smile, causing him to stare dumbly back at her. That smile alone, would have made him agree to anything she asked. Clapping her hands together and unknowingly batting her eyes at him she asked, "so, how about that math homework?"

Before he knew what was happening, he was sitting beside her with her math book open in front of them.

* * *

He wouldn't admit it but Ranma actually liked doing homework when it was with Akane. She was always patient with him when he didn't understand something and would come up with unique ways of explaining things to him. Best of all was she would smile at him encouragingly when he did well.

He tried to stretch out the time they had alone out as much as possible. He'd miss a problem on purpose because when she double checked his work, she would always lean over to his side of the desk and he would get a tantalizing waft of her shampoo. She used the strawberry one tonight, which was his favorite.

Plus, she had this habit of biting on her bottom lip when she was concentrating. It was an odd mix of adorable and well...sexy, that only she could pull off.

Studying was one of the few activities they could do together where their parents left them completely alone. They could spend several hours in her room - with the door closed - and be uninterrupted the entire time. He thanked his mother for the lack of intrusion; she had told him in no uncertain terms, that she didn't think it was manly for her son to be a high school dropout and that he needed to get his education. She then barred their fathers from annoying them while they studied. It was the one of the few times that her unconventional thoughts about masculine behavior worked in his favor.

He couldn't let his parents know he liked the time he had alone with the fiery girl, so he would always make a fuss when she asked.

He felt a little bad for intruding on the time she could've spent on her other homework, but he had so few chances to just spend time with her that he would gladly ignore the guilt.

* * *

Akane knew that homework was not on Ranma's list of priorities, so she was glad that he agreed to study with her so easily tonight, if not a little surprised. She usually had to drag him into her room all the while listening to him complain that he would rather be anywhere else, doing anything else.

She on the other hand loved doing homework with Ranma. He was always much kinder when they were alone and she was happy to be able to let her hair down around him, so to speak.

They ended up doing a lot of talking about non-homework related topics during their breaks and Akane made sure they took plenty of them. She always blamed his lack of attention skills as the cause but she insisted on way more than necessary. He was always happy to go along since some breaks included snacks (always made by Kasumi or his mother).

Homework was always the time she could see beyond the dumb jock exterior he showed to everyone else. It still amazed her how a boy who was raised on the road by a careless father, managed to do as well as he did in school. Sure, he was at the bottom of the class but that had more to do with lack of trying than lack of understanding.

He was great at math, easily picking up equations. Ranma's face always showed exactly what he was thinking and she could see when something clicked into place. Like with his martial arts, he never gave up when he got the wrong answer, trying again and again.

Plus, she got to secretly watch him while he worked. It was so cute the way he would absently scratch his head when he was thinking. And she tried not to stare when he got up to stretch, but he was always in a ribbed cotton tank top that showed off his amazingly toned body.

Oh yeah, Akane definitely liked studying Ranma, err...with Ranma.

* * *

It was Ranma's favorite time of school: lunch. He was sitting with his buddies, Hiroshi and Daisuke, at a table finishing off his bento and listening to them talk about…something. He didn't pay much attention unless it had to do with a certain blue-haired martial artist and they knew it.

Things were looking up for Ranma and he was in an exceptionally good mood. He had predicted correctly and the remaining dumb asses had backed off this morning which only left Kuno, who was dealt with quickly.

Plus he was looking forward to his afternoon treat; the sundae, not Akane.

Although...

* * *

Akane was dreading what she had to do. After having convinced almost all the girls in class to provide one piece of apparel for Happosai, she had one last hurdle to jump. Unfortunately for her, the hurdle was named Ukyo Kuonji.

Since the wedding, she had been able to ignore the okonomiyaki chef and would have been happy to continue doing so but Happosai was firm in saying EVERY girl in school.

Akane could have had donated another pair herself, she was sure Happosai wouldn't find out, but she didn't like the idea welching on a bet, even in a minor way. She had given Happosai her word and she was going to do her best to keep it.

She didn't hate Ukyo for her part in the wedding catastrophe but she was frustrated with her. Akane had tried, really tried, to be her friend. But every time she offered Ukyo friendship, she used it to against Akane. And this time, Ukyo helped destroy the only thing in the world she really cherished, her family dojo. Akane had spent so much of her youth in that dojo and looked forward to teaching there one day and they had demolished it.

Yes, she was still very annoyed with the okonomiyaki chef.

She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself to deal with her rival. Luckily, she wouldn't have to do it alone.

Sayuri, Yuka, and Akane approached Ukyo as she sold her signature dish from the portable grill she had set up under a tree.

Looking up, Ukyo's smile tightened when she saw who her new customers were. It was obvious that Akane had been avoiding her since the wedding and that didn't bother her. No, what bothered her was that Ranma had also been avoiding her. He hadn't once come to ask her for free food or to say hi. She had even seen him turn and head the other way when he caught sight of her yesterday.

It really pissed her off. He was HER fiancé. He was supposed to marry HER; the cute one. His childhood friend. Not the one he insulted all the time. Not the one he objected so vehemently to. SHE would be his bride and they would be happy running her restaurant together.

She had heard the rumors flying around school and knew exactly why the other girls were here. And she knew exactly what she wanted in return.

"What can I get you ladies?"

"We'll have three pork okonomiyakis please."

The trio watched as the chef started to prepare her batter. "We do have something to talk to you about," Akane added hesitantly.

"What would that be, Tendo?"

Akane suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. It was her property that was destroyed but she was the one being given the cold shoulder? It shouldn't have surprised her.

"Well, _Ukyo, _I don't know if you've heard, but we have found a way to stop Grandfather Happosai from raiding the locker rooms. But we will need your help."

By the time the okonomiyakis were done cooking, Akane had finished her explanation.

"Hell no."

"What?" "Why not?" "You're not even going to think about it?" came the simultaneous responses.

"There is no way in hell I'm giving that old pervert a pair of my panties."

"Well, it doesn't have to be panties," Yuka pleaded, "it could be a bra."

Ukyo snorted, "I wear bindings and I don't think he'd accept those."

"He'd be ok with gym shorts or bathing suits too." Sayuri added, opting to leave out the lingerie option, not knowing what the cross-dresser preferred to wear to bed.

"Look, it's just not going to happen. There is no way I'm caving into that pervert."

"But you have to! Please! It's an all or nothing deal!" Ukyo seemed to be unmoved by their plight and Sayuri narrowed her eyes, "If you don't do this, we'll get everyone to boycott your restaurant!"

When Ukyo glared and her hand tightened on the spatula in her hand, Akane decided it was time to step in. It was never a good idea to threaten a martial artist, in any way.

Gesturing in a calming manner, she said, "I'm sure we can come to some sort of understanding. Ukyo, is there anything you need done around the store? I'll help where I can and don't forget Taro also owes you a favor if you want it."

"I don't want anything from Taro."

"Okay, is there anything you do want?"

"Yes. I want…" All three girls looked at her expectantly, "a date with Ranma."

"What?!" Akane exclaimed followed by "You can't do that!" and "He's Akane's fiancé!" from Yuka and Sayuri, respectively.

"He's my fiancé too!" Ukyo raged.

Akane was seething. _I should have known she would want something like this. How dare she?_ She was just about to scream when she thought, _she's right. She _is _his fiancée. And didn't I just decide to let him spend time with the other girls if he wanted to? So why should I get mad at Ukyo's request? She has every right to go on a date with him. And I need to let her. _Closing her eyes, Akane took some deep breaths.

As calmly as she could she said, "you're right…"

"No way!" "You've got to be crazy!"

Akane had to smile, her best friends' indignation on her behalf was touching. But it wouldn't get them anywhere. Giving them a let-me-handle-this look, she went on, "you're right. But I don't know what you want me to do about it. This deal has nothing to do with Ranma. If you want a date with him, then you should talk to him about it."

Ukyo narrowed her eyes, "I've tried but…he's been busy…and I haven't had a chance." The chef looked at the ground, and added, "but if you ask him, he'll listen to you."

To her surprise, the other girl snorted. "You can't be serious? Since when has Ranma listened to anything I had to say, much less done anything I ask?"

Ukyo was red in the face. Having to ask her rival for help to date her own fiancé was beyond humiliating but she didn't have many options. "A date with Ranma. Take it or leave it."

Feeling a mixture of desperation and exasperation, Akane gritted her teeth. "I can ask him for you but I can't force him do anything. That's the best I can do."

Ukyo gave the matter some thought. "You could always trick him or black mail him into it."

"No! I refuse to manipulate him like that. I will talk to him but it's Ranma's choice what he does. Do we have a deal?"

"Fine, we have a deal. But you better not go back on your word."

Choosing to ignore the last comment, she replied, "Grandfather will be here after school on Monday, so we will need you to meet us in the gym then." With that, Akane stomped away, okonomiyaki forgotten and appetite ruined.

* * *

Akane's bad mood lasted the rest of the afternoon. She hated having to get Ranma involved in this. The feelings of guilt and frustration put her in a vicious cycle and she knew it was pointless to overthink this but she couldn't help herself.

Yes, he had finally agreed to go along with her plan and not oppose her - or do anything to undermine her - but he hadn't offered to help her at all. She had no idea what he could have done but it would have been nice of him to ask. Was it too much for her to want Ranma to want to help out of his own free will and not be pushed into helping her, especially in this way? She knew it didn't matter; if she asked, he would at least consider it.

It was then that it dawned on her; the real crux of her issues. It wasn't about Ranma helping her with her plan. It was his feelings about her. She didn't want Ranma to feel obligated to her. She wanted Ranma to want to be there for her because he wanted to be. Not because he felt responsible for her because of their parents agreement. Or because it one of his enemies who had threatened her, like Saffron. But because he truly wanted to be there for her. To help her. To care for her.

After almost two years, she still didn't know what she meant to him. And it hurt more than she realized.

* * *

Akane, Yuka and Sayuri left through the entrance door of the school, planning to head to the bridge to meet up with Taro but were surprised to see him leaning against the front gates. Her friends had, of course, heard of him due to the initial kidnapping fiasco, but had never officially met him.

As soon as introductions were made, Sayuri stepped back and brazenly eyed Taro from top to bottom, circled him once and after taking some time looking at his face, simply declared, "he'll do."

Akane and Yuka suppressed their giggles, while Taro simply crossed his arms, saying dryly, "Stop. You're embarrassing me."

Akane snorted before she could stop herself. Clearing her throat she said, "Taro, can I have a quick word?" After stepping away from the other two girls, she whispered, "I know it's supposed to be a date and you are going to need to make it look real but no perverted stuff. Touch her in any way that she doesn't like and you'll have to deal with me. Got it?"

"Come on, you can't think I would do anything like that."

"So kidnapping is ok but you're above groping? I'm gonna have to write this down."

"Are you ever going to let that go?"

"Not likely," she smirked.

As soon as the pair left for the date, Ranma appeared suddenly at her side. "Hey."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"…"

As the couple gazed at each other, a blush formed on Akane's face. She had known Ranma was exceedingly attractive. But it always affected her the most when he popped out of nowhere and she couldn't prepare herself prior to his appearance. Despite her best intentions, she always became a little warm and pleasantly fuzzy when looking at him; his bangs framing his face, his blue eyes aimed at her full of an emotion she couldn't identify and his lips set in that trademark cocky smirk, which she secretly loved.

Ranma had seen the three girls leave class and followed them at a distance. He had stayed behind a tree on the grounds as he watched the trio approach Taro. He couldn't hear what was being said but he could clearly see what was happening. He laughed at Sayuri's appraisal of Taro but that died quickly when he saw Akane and Taro taking a side bar. His eyes narrowed at the sight. He didn't like the way the two talked to each other and how comfortable they seemed around each other. He waited until Taro and Sayuri left before going to Akane's side.

He loved being able to sneak up on her. It was a sign of his superiority in martial arts that he could fly under her well-honed instincts. And when he did surprise her, her cheeks would flush into an attractive hue that no makeup could reproduce. Her eyes would widen, a spark shining through making him want to spend the rest of his life staring into those chocolate pools.

Their gazing was interrupted by the sound of polite cough. Both looked over to see Yuka grinning at them. "So, I'm going now." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "you kids have fun alright?" She winked at Akane before heading off.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Ranma asked, "we still goin for ice-cream?"

"Of course!"

* * *

The teenaged waiter hated having to work after school, he'd much rather be hanging out with his friends. But on occasions like this, he didn't mind so much. Two girls had just walked into the ice-cream parlor and were seated in a booth by the large picture window, in his section. They were two of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen.

Both were rather petite but outrageously curvy. The raven haired girl - or was that blue hair? - was dressed in her school uniform. It was obvious that she had a nice pair of breast and a tiny waist and he had could only imagine what the rest of her body looked like. Shockingly, the most attractive thing about her was her face. She was laughing as she walked in and he swore she lit up the room.

The redhead girl was wearing Chinese style black pants and white sleeves top that showed off her figure fairly well. He was surprised that she seemed even more buxom and curvy than her friend. She carried herself a little differently too, strutting around almost like a boy would.

Ryu did his best to mess his hair up, trying for a bad boy look that was completely ruined by the uniform and apron he was forced to wear. He approached the comely girls with a cool stand-offish demeanor, intending to ingratiate himself to the attractive raven haired girl. His intentions, as well as his demeanor was quickly lost when the stunning redhead turned her blue eyes on him and batted her eyelashes.

Before he knew it, he had gotten both girls banana splits even though they had only ordered a scoop of ice-cream each. He had then scurried back and forth getting them tea, water, extra sprinkles and whipped cream. He ended up giving them everything free of charge, when the redhead vaguely promised to come back to the shop soon.

He was still in a daze as they left the restaurant and he face palmed when realized he hadn't even gotten her name.

* * *

"See 'kane? I told ya we weren't gonna have to pay," Ranma said smugly.

He had every intention of spending their time at the ice-cream shop just chatting with his fiancée instead of flirting with the waiter. But when the imbecile came over and started making goo-goo eyes at her, he knew he had to step in. Akane was frustratingly naïve when it came to boys and would have just thought he was being "nice" to her because it was his job. She never thought guys were hitting on her unless they were literally trying to hit on her. So did his best to distract the boy - who was annoyingly persistent – by sending him on meaningless errands for things they didn't want.

Akane was by now completely used to Ranma's antics. She should have tried to get him to stop but it was too amusing to watch the spectacle that was Ranma when he was in full flirt mode. She had never seen _any_ real girl behave the way he did and it was like a traffic accident, she just couldn't look away. She almost felt sorry for that poor waiter but after watching him practically drool over Ranma, her sympathy waned. Then, watching as he mainly made eye contact with Ranma's breast, any remaining sympathy for him flew out the window.

"Yes, that was very impressive Ranma."

The pair was headed home and decided to walk through the park. Akane had stopped when she saw the swings and on impulse ran over, squealing in delight. Ranma had followed at a more sedate pace, smiling at her enthusiasm. He was slightly confused when he reached the swings and Akane was sitting there motionless.

"Aren't you gonna swing?"

"Actually, Ranma would you push me?"

"Push you? Don't you know how to do it by yourself?"

Akane giggled before saying, "of course, silly. This way is just more fun." Akane then pulled out the big guns; her eyes went wide and doe like, her lips forming the cutest pout he had ever seen. "Pwease Wanma?" She asked playfully.

Ranma's lip twitched as he shook his head slightly. _What man in their right mind could say no to that? _Without responding, he walked around her and reached down so that his hands were positioned next to his fiancée's hips.

He had held Akane in his arms on several occasions, had carried her on his back and she had even sat on his lap once. But somehow this simple act felt more intimate than all the others. It went against any martial artist instincts to allow someone at their back and the inherent trust she showed in him was humbling.

With his new position, Ranma was eyelevel with Akane's neck. How had he never noticed how slender and elegant her neck was? It was odd to think that a neck could be… sexy? Just then, she tilted her head to one side, almost invitingly. He felt himself grow hot as he had the sudden urge to place small gentle kisses at the base of her neck.

He leaned forward automatically and at the last second turned his head towards her ear, whispering, "you ready?"

Perched on the rubber seat, Akane was pleased when her fiancé went along with her request. She had a wide smile on her face as she waited for him to start. She felt him as he came up behind her and placing his hands near her hips. Somehow it didn't feel as innocent as when her father used to push her to and fro. A shiver went down her spine as his cool breath blew across the nape of her neck when he leaned in and asked her if she was ready. Even in his female form, that simple act was oddly seductive. Closing her eyes at the sensual feeling, she gulped. "Y-yes."

They spent a quarter of an hour with him pushing her back and forth. Akane occasionally leaning full back, her head bent backwards laughing. After she'd had enough fun, they sat together on the swings.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah 'kane?"

"So you know that agreement I have with Grandfather Happosai?" Ranma grunted noncommittally in response. "We had to get all the girls to agree. And they all did except for Ukyo."

"Lemme guess, she said no, right? Just wanted to keep fighting the old bastard?"

"Right. So I had to try to talk her into it."

"So what does Taro have to do for her? Fly around town with her okonomiyaki shop sign for a few hours?"

"Err...no. She didn't want anything from Taro. She actually wanted a favor from me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She...she wants me to get her a date...with you."

Akane was looking at the ground and missed the way Ranma's jaw clenched. "Why didn't she just ask me herself?"

"She said that you've been too busy for her to ask you. Ha-have you been avoiding her? "

Ignoring her question he went on stonily, "so you just said yes?"

Akane's head shot up, "no! Not exactly. I told her that I'd talk to you. But that it was your decision."

"You want me to though, right? Go one a date with her?"

Akane's head dropped back down. She didn't know what to say. Of course she didn't want him to go on a date with his "cute" fiancée. The thought alone made her feel nauseous. But she did promise to talk to Ranma about it and if he said no, she had a feeling Ukyo would claim she didn't try and would back out of the swap on Monday.

Taking Akane's silence as confirmation, Ranma fumed. He couldn't believe she _wanted _him to go on a date with another girl. Akane would never have even suggested it before and now she was encouraging it? Did that mean she didn't care? That she'd given up? A dark part of him scoffed. _She can't give up if she never tried, can she?_

He hated to admit it but Akane never really fought for him. She got mad and jealous but had never gone to any lengths to prove to the other girls that he belonged to her. Sure she reacted when challenged but that was it. He went cold at the thought.

Akane was surprised when Ranma had abruptly stood up. "We should get back; they'll be waiting for us."

He walked off without looking back.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter, it doesn't have as much action as the last chapter, but it was needed to get the story moving.

Thank you, **PepperonyOwl** for the pre-read. She does an awesome job and any grammar/spelling errors that appear in this chapter are caused by me and me alone. Here's hoping you get better soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had been a couple days since Akane and Ranma had their talk in the park. During that time Ranma had remained frustratingly remote and Akane had no idea what to make of it. He seemed oddly upset but she didn't understand why.

She was sure that he was unhappy that she suggested he go out on a date with Ukyo but it seemed so out of character. After all, he had gone on plenty of dates with other people due to one scheme or another. He had gone on a date with Shampoo for the instant nannichuan before he found out that it was a one-use-only item. He went on dates with Kuno a couple times; once to try to get Kuno to give him a wish from the wishing sword and another to convince Kuno he cared for him during the cheerleading competition. He'd gone out with Tsubasa to try to get him over Ukyo. And when she thought about it, she realized that he had also gone on a date with Ukyo while he was spying on her date with Ryoga.

So why was this different? Was it because it was the scenario he didn't like? He definitely didn't like the idea of giving into Grandfather Happosai but she thought he'd gotten over that already.

Was he mad that she would offer him up in a bet? But that seemed ridiculous with the amount of times she was used as a bargaining chip and/or prize in one of his feuds. She definitely understood the frustration of being used as a possession, something someone could just win. But didn't she make it clear that he had a choice? He didn't have to go if he didn't want to.

She was more hurt than anything else because he was being so cold to her. She wanted to talk to him about what he was feeling but every time she tried, he just blew her off. He barely looked at her in the last few days. Was he really that disgusted by her that he wouldn't even make eye contact?

It was frustrating. If this is how he was treating Ukyo, she could kind of understand why the other girl was acting so desperate.

She looked at her clock and realized that she had no more time to contemplate the mystery that was her pig-tailed fiancé.

Today was her first cooking lesson with Aunty Saotome.

* * *

Ranma was in the backyard, punching and kicking at a straw pad he had wrapped around the trunk of a tree. The movements came automatically - having been ingrained in him since he was a young boy - so he also used this time for thinking.

For the last two days he had been going over and over Akane's request. He still couldn't believe that she had really wanted him to consider going on a date with Ukyo. That it didn't bother her that he would be out with another girl.

Akane - like most women - had always been a bit of mystery to him. He never knew what how she was going to react to situations. But from the beginning of their engagement, he could always count on her jealousy when it involved other girls. And he loved it. It was a sign that she cared for him, even though she never admitted it. When did that change?

Was this part of the plan she talked about? If so, he really didn't care for it.

Was it his fault? Did denying his feeling before the wedding cause her to feel that he didn't care?

She knew better though, or at least she should have. He knew he was stupid when it came to how he treated her at times, but she had always forgiven him. She was always the bigger person and never nagged him about his stupid mistakes. Somehow she knew he didn't mean those stupid things he said or did.

Thinking back on his original reaction, he realized he didn't really _want _her to act like the other girls. They were always violating his personal space, pushing themselves and their agendas on him. It was suffocating and did the opposite of what they wanted; it turned him off. She was the only one who understood that he wasn't comfortable with physical affection. Although, when he thought of Akane, he wouldn't mind her pushing his personal boundaries.

No, what he really wanted was for her to make a claim. She hadn't once admitted to wanting to be with him. Even when she said she heard his proclamation at Jusendo, she never said how _she _felt. She wanted his confirmation but why couldn't he get one? It was scary putting yourself on the line like that and not knowing how the other person will respond. Maybe if he _had_ admitted his feelings that day, she would have told him how she felt.

After all, she did agree to marry him, right? But was that because she wanted to be with him? Or because she was finally giving into her father's wishes?

He'd gone over and over the same thoughts for the last two days and he was still no closer to an answer.

All he knew was that he missed her.

He had spent the last two days giving her the cold shoulder. He recognized it as childish but he couldn't help it. She had been trying to talk to him but he had been fairly curt in his responses. He couldn't even look her in the face because looking into those big brown eyes would cause his resolve to crumble.

It was stupid really, since it probably hurt him more than her. He missed the sound of her voice and the way her eyes lit up when she laughed.

But mainly, he missed her company.

* * *

Akane was headed towards the kitchen. Despite her current predicament with Ranma, she found herself in a very good mood. She was so glad that Aunty hadn't given up on her and was still willing to teach her how to cook after their last disastrous attempt.

As she walked, she imagined what she would be learning to make today. Tempura? Teriyaki? Ramen? Sushi? Or would they be baking today? Maybe cookies, brownies or even a chocolate cake!

Whatever it was, she was determined to do a good job.

Maybe, just maybe, if she made something that tasted good enough and she could get Ranma to try some, it would get them over their current problem.

"Hello, Aunty!" Akane greeted as she walked into the kitchen. She looked around and saw that the kitchen counter was filled with produce.

"Hello, Akane dear."

Unable to contain her excitement or curiosity, she said, "so, what are we making today?"

Aunty gave her a rather large smile, "we'll get to that. First, have a seat; I've made us some tea." As the pair sat, Nodoka served them both. "You do remember what we agreed to, right?" When Akane nodded her agreement, the older woman continued, "I know that you are a very talented martial artist, so to help with your cooking, you will need to think about cooking in the same way you do martial arts training. I know that it's been a number of years since you were a beginner, but can you tell me what you learned first?"

Akane's response was quick, "we learned basics: how to breathe properly, how to kick and punch properly and the different stances."

"Yes. Those were fundamental to the rest of your training, correct?"

"Yes, any advanced forms we learned were built from these basics."

"Wonderful. Today, we will work on your cooking basics."

At first, Akane was frustrated. Aunty had insisted that she spend the first part of her lesson on identifying the different produce she had laid out on the counter and for her to learn how to tell they were ripe. Her frustration quickly turned to embarrassment. She really didn't recognize some of these vegetables uncooked, much less being able to identify how to tell if they were ripe. However, Aunty was patient in identifying the different items and how to choose the right ones at the market.

She then taught Akane how to wash each item. She had no idea that there were specific ways to wash different items. She didn't know that strawberries were not to be put in water and should instead be cleaned with a clean wet cloth to get the dirt off. She also didn't know that grapes should always be left on the vine to help keep their freshness.

After washing the different food, Akane was instructed on how to cut each item. At first she was very excited, thinking that this was finally something she could do right! But she was chagrined to realize that she had no idea what she was doing. She could use a bokken with ease, so why was a paring knife so difficult?

After mangling a couple of tomatoes, Aunty told her that her form was wrong and that she was using too much force. In other words, she was squeezing the tomatoes too tightly then hacking at them, instead of holding the tomato gently and using a sawing motion to keep from ruining the product. Aunty had also tried to teach her the importance of uniformity in being able to cut the produce into similar sizes, which would help in the cooking process.

By the end of her first lesson, Akane had put together a fruit platter and vegetable platter, along with having cut all the vegetables that would be used in tonight's dinner. She had to admit that her platters were not as pretty as something that would have been created by Kasumi - the individual pieces were uneven in size and shape and some had more peel on them than others - but overall she was rather pleased with herself.

* * *

Ranma Saotome was starving! It wasn't an unusual predicament since he was still a growing boy and much more active than an average person. So it was unsurprising that he was the first person to be seated for dinner. He was practically drooling at the scents coming out of the kitchen. He was a little concerned when everyone else had gotten to the table and his fiancée was missing. His concern turned to dread when he saw her coming out of the kitchen with his mother, carrying food, looking excited and happy. That was never a good sign and his stomach grumbled.

"Mom, you didn't let her cook anything did you?" The question came out before he could stop himself. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Soun and Genma's heads had snapped up as fear came over them. As he looked up, he saw Akane's face fall.

He closed his eyes. Partially to shield himself from the look on her face and partially because he was ashamed of himself.

"Actually Ranma, Akane has prepared some lovely vegetable and fruit trays for tonight."

He did not miss the admonishing tone in his mother's voice. Opening his eyes, he saw the platters in question and silently thanked the heavens. He couldn't get food poisoning from raw vegetables. Looking to his side and realized that his fiancée had already seated herself next to him and was sitting rather stiffly.

His heart hurt a little just looking at her. Why did he have to be such a jerk sometimes?

He was distracted when his mother handed him a bowl of rice and soon everyone had started their dinner. His mother had put an end to the Saotome food fights while they were living in their old home and she had placed herself in between the two men in her life to ensure that they - mainly Genma - would obey her wishes. Nodoka had also insisted that they would both try to show some manners while eating, which slowed their pace and left the rest of the household grateful.

"Mom, this teriyaki is great!"

"Thank you, son. How is the miso soup?

"Goob..." Swallowing, he said, "I mean, good Mom. Can I have some more rice?"

Nodoka smiled as she reached for his bowl, "is the rice ok?"

"It's great as usual."

Eyeing his bowl, he missed the grin spread on his mother's face and the corners of Akane's mouth tilt upward as she ate her food. "That's good to hear. You can thank Akane; she made it."

Both Genma and Soun choked on their food, while Kasumi smiled at her youngest sister and Nabiki raised an eyebrow at her bowl.

After her lesson, Akane had watched as Nodoka cooked the rest of the meal, asking questions about the process and listening as Ranma's mother explained how to tell when food items were done cooking and what order to add ingredients in. She had no idea that all the items had different cooking times, so it wasn't a good idea to dump everything in at the same time.

She had hesitantly asked if she could make the rice and after a moment's pause, Nodoka had agreed. She had then walked the younger girl through measuring the appropriate amount of rice and the proper way to rinse it. Akane was a little too eager and had lost at least a quarter cup down the sink before she slowed her motions. Afterwards, the Saotome matriarch showed her how to add the appropriate amount of clean water and watched as she put the pot into the rice cooker and plugged the machine in. She smiled at the look of pride on Akane's face. Giving the excited girl an indulgent smile she reminded her to make sure the switch on the rice cooker was in the cook position and not the warm position.

Ranma reached slowly for his bowl, now wishing he hadn't asked for a second helping. But he had already eaten one bowl and if it was gonna make him sick, a second bowl wouldn't make much difference. Besides, the rice had tasted fine. "Err...thanks, 'kane."

* * *

The walk to school Monday morning began quietly. Akane had wanted to try to talk to Ranma again but was too distracted by her own thoughts. Today was the day that the trade would take place. There were so many variables and too many things that could go wrong. This was Nerima and nothing ever went as planned. She was jostled from her pondering when Ranma asked her a question.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

"I said, do you need any help later?"

"Really?" Akane's face lit up in joy at the thought, "you want to help me?"

It was then, looking at the enthusiasm and gratitude she displayed at his simple offer, did he realize how idiotic he had been. Even if he didn't get answers to all his questions, one thing was clear; Akane wanted him around. For what and how long, he didn't know but for now, that was okay. He could build on this.

"Of course, 'kane. I'll always be there for you."

Ranma watched as a blush slowly crept over Akane's face as she processed his words.

Yeah, he could definitely build on this.

* * *

Taro felt as nervous as a virgin on her wedding night but was trying to maintain his cool exterior. After a lifetime of having to introduce himself as Pantyhose Taro, he would finally be rid of the ridicule associated with the name. All he had to do was get through the afternoon.

He was currently standing guard at the gymnasium doors with Ranma. Akane had told him, in no uncertain terms, that only girls were allowed through these doors and that they were to bar anyone else from coming in. He thought the assignment was stupid. Why would anyone else try to get in?

A little while later, Taro understood.

He had no idea what to think when a herd of boys came running up to their position and demanded entrance. They all started shouting nonsense. When he was finally able to decipher some phrases, he started to understand.

"It's not fair that you get to see their panties and we don't!"

"Come on Ranma, first Akane and now the rest of the girls too?"

"You gotta share, man! Just let us look!"

"Let us in man! Let us in!

"SHUT IT! You guys aren't comin in and that's final!" Ranma finally yelled.

His statement had caused the boys collective volume to go from a loud roar to a low murmur. Ranma's presence alone seemed to keep them in line but they didn't look like they would willingly leave.

They all but ignored Taro until a boy standing to his left said to his friend, "I really want to find out if Akane wears thongs or not. I never got a good look up her skirt when she kicked me!"

That did it. Taro wasn't going to let anyone get away with being so disrespectful to Akane when he was around. Grabbing the boy by the collar of his shirt, Taro punched him in the face and threw him over the school's boundary wall.

All conversation ceased as every eye turned to Taro. The school boys were quiet as they tried to figure out who the stranger was and he saw several people close to him take a step back.

Ranma - having heard the offensive comment - gave Taro both a nod and the evil eye, which he ignored.

After that, it was easy to get the group of males to turn around and go home. If they all ganged up together, they could possibly, _maybe_ take one angry Martial Artist, but definitely not two.

After the males left, the girls came forward, having watched the entire fiasco play out so far. Akane had explained that some of the girls were unconvinced this would work and needed to see for themselves that the old pervert would actually do what he said. Others just wanted to see what the trade would be like, so they could be prepared when it was their turn.

Taro was surprised to see what looked like the entire female population of the high school waiting to enter. They moved in small groups and slowly entered the building. It was obvious they were much more dignified than their male counterparts.

It shocked Taro when Ranma suddenly grabbed a homely looking girl who was walking in slightly behind her friends. Looking over he thought homely was a very generous description for the girl. She was rail thin and very pale, her cheeks were sunken in, while she had huge bags under her eyes and her hair was short but stiff and waxy looking.

Ranma lifted her up by her arms and shook a little. Concerned, Taro was going to step in to protect the girl but was stopped when he heard her speak.

"Help! Help! Get this brute off me!" The girl said in a high-falsetto and tried to wiggle out of Ranma's grasp.

"Gosunkugi! Dressin' like a girl didn't work the first two times, why'd ya think it was gonna work now?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just an innocent young maiden," she continued in her squeaky voice.

Putting her on her feet, Ranma rolled his eyes and snatched the wig of her...his head. "Whatcha doin here?"

"Nothing!" He continued in the squeaky voice before clearing his throat. "Nothing, I swear!"

"Sure." Ranma reached into the boy's open handbag and pulled out a camera. "Then you won't be needing this," and proceeded to destroy the camera with his bare hands.

Gosunkugi stepped back and fell on his ass, then proceeded to crabwalk backwards using his hands and feet before getting up and running away. He looked back to make sure he wasn't being chased and turned around just in time to run straight into a tree. He was stuck to the tree for a second before falling backwards on the ground, unconscious.

Ranma walked back to his original position and crossed his arms, looking bored.

Things progressed for a while until, once again, Ranma stopped a girl in line. However, this time he just held his arm out in front of the girl to halt her from entering.

Taro noticed that this one was quite attractive. She had on the standard uniform, a blunt bob cut hairstyle with bangs, a smirk on her face and showed absolutely no concern. She looked familiar but he was sure he had never seen the girl before; he would have remembered someone that confident.

"Yes, Ranma?" She asked.

"Taro, search her bag."

Shrugging, Taro grabbed her bag and riffled through. It took him a less than a minute to find a hidden compartment on the side of her bag which held a camera. Pulling it out, he raised an eyebrow at the girl.

Completely unabashed, she shrugged her shoulders, "can't blame a girl for trying."

She reached for her bag and camera but Taro pulled the latter away from her.

"You can get this back after."

Raising an eyebrow, she smirked as she ran her eyes slowly over his entire body. Making eye contact, she purred, "definitely."

Taro just gaped at her. He was flattered at her attention but a little taken aback at her response. No girl had ever treated him like a piece of meat before and he had to admit he was a little turned on.

Waiting until the girl had entered the building, Taro handed the camera to Ranma, trusting that he would return it to its rightful owner. Ranma slipped it into his pocket with a slight nod.

The crowd of girls had thinned when Taro spotted a lone boy dressed in a school uniform brazenly trying to walking in. Stepping up to the stranger, he said, "you're gonna have to leave."

Narrowing his eyes, the boy pushed by Taro without a response. Annoyed, he responded by grabbing the other boy's arm but then suddenly he reached behind him and pulled out...a spatula?

What the fuck?

"Taro, she's fine. Let her by."

"She?"

Ranma just nodded while the girl shot Taro a nasty look before putting back her... weapon?

Turning around she walked over to the gender-bender.

"Hey, Ranchan!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Hey."

Her smile dropped as she said, "so you talked to Tendo?"

"Ya, I talked to _Akane_."

This obviously wasn't the response she wanted. She stood akimbo and narrowed her eyes, "well?"

"You go through with this and I'll stop by Ucchan's tomorrow after school."

"Why didn't you just say so Sugar?" Giving him a big smile, she proceeded to enter the gym.

Taro shook his head, he shouldn't be surprised that the cross-dresser was interested in the tranny. It was even logical, in some strange way. But damn this was a weird ass town.

The two bouncers waited until the last of the girls had entered the gymnasium before they walked in and closed the doors behind them.

Taro could swear he was developing a tick.

* * *

Akane had gone into the gymnasium through the lockers right as school ended. Knowing that practically the entire school wanted to attend the ceremony (for a lack of a better term) today she had pulled out half the bleachers. Taro and Ranma had already been given directions during lunch to keep every male, besides themselves, out of the building. After pulling out half of the bleachers, she situated a table and three chairs and had instructed Yuka and Sayuri to gather all of the girls in their homeroom in the front row of the bleachers.

She was currently waiting in a nearby classroom with one very exuberant old man. She refused to let him into the gym while the girls were entering, not trusting him to be able to keep his hands to himself. She had worked too hard on this to let it fall apart because of Happosai's lack of self-control.

Now she had wished she had assigned either Taro or Ranma to babysit the grand-master.

For the occasion, he had donned a tan linen suit, white collared shirt, blue and white stripped bow-tie and topped it all off with a matching tan skimmer that had a blue and white ribbon accent. He kept alternating between twirling his hat on his finger and adjusting it on his head, after smoothing out what little hair he had left.

Surprisingly, he had kept his hands to himself but he had asked her every five minutes when things were going to start. He was currently bouncing around the room, occasionally saying, "woo-hoo". It was like watching a five year old on a sugar rush.

Feeling her patience had reached its end, she finally, heard a knock on the door. Yuka's head popped through the door a second later to tell her that they were ready.

Walking in, she saw the bleachers completely filled with female students, all chatting amongst themselves as they waited. She looked over to see Happosai do a small jump, kicking his heels together before walking forwards.

At the table, Akane instructed Happosai to sit in the middle chair, reminding him that he was not allowed to grope or touch any of the girls in any way. She asked Ranma and Taro to sit in the chairs next to him to make sure he abided by the rules and stop him if he decided to get close up and comfortable with any of the girls. The only caveat was that they had to turn the chairs around and face the opposite direction.

She then walked over and assembled her class mates. She quickly explained that they each had to personally hand their items over to Happosai. There were a few murmurs of dissent but when she pointed out that there was no other way to guarantee that each girl had individually donated something, the murmurs quieted down although many still looked uncertain.

Akane had planned to go first and Sayuri and Yuka had volunteered to be second and third, respectively.

Walking towards Happosai, Akane was reaching into her bag when suddenly the doors burst open.

"Akane Tendo, my sweet innocent flower! You shall not show your delicate feminine garments to anyone but me, much less give them away to some ancient perverted fiend! I will not allow it!"

Kuno ran towards Akane, bokken held in front of him. He closed a quarter of the distance before a pair of feet smacked him in the face. Both Ranma and Taro had gotten out of the chairs simultaneously and rushed towards Kuno. They reached down and each grabbed one of his armpits, dragging him out the door.

Akane watched as each boy grabbed an upper arm and leg. Swinging Kuno back and forth, once, twice, and on the third swing sent him flying through the air.

Akane smiled, it was nice seeing the once enemies get along and working together.

* * *

Happosai sat at the table patiently as he watched his heir and the boy he helped birth handle the delusional wannabe samurai. He was glad it was done quickly since he was tired of waiting and wanted to see the new pretties that everyone had gotten him. Clapping his hands in glee, he started to kick his legs back and forth.

And he had sweet little Akane to thank for everything! He knew she really appreciated him after all.

Once Taro and Ranma had seated themselves next to him, Akane walked forward reminding him of the rules. Did she think he was a child? Of course he remembered the rules!

Not wanting to seem ungrateful, he gave her an encouraging smile and nodded his head eagerly. Anticipation built up as he watched Akane reach into her bag.

Suddenly her movements seemed to slow as he saw her pull out something in an exquisite shade of pale pink! The lovely item seemed to move in slow motion as it revealed itself to him inch by inch. Once it was completely out of the bag, it gleamed as rays of light shone from its very core.

As the light dimmed he got to take a good look at the item. It was strapless with a very high cut leg opening and he thought he could see a cute little bow on the back.

It was a bathing suit!

Suddenly time seemed to speed up as he reached for the item. Taking it gently from her hands he held it up to himself as he caressed the material to his face and took a sniff.

It even smelled like her!

"Oh sweet little Akane, you shouldn't have! It's so lovely!"

Forgetting himself, he made a move to thank her properly with a hug when he felt a pair of hands push him back down by the shoulders. Those young brats had stopped him from appropriately showing his thanks to the lovely creature before him.

That was when he remembered he had to sit and was not allowed to show his appreciation.

"Thank you, Akane."

She smiled at him - and what a lovely smile it was - before saying, "you're welcome Grand-Father."

Instead of going to sit down, she walked to the end of the table to oversee the rest of the transactions.

The next girl up seemed to be a little nervous but pulled out the most beautiful, black lace bra with thin pink ribbon woven through the tops of cups. It was a work of art.

"Thank you. This is...I...thank you!" Moved beyond words, Happosai was practically in tears with his gratitude. Not knowing what to do he looked at her and hoped his gratitude showed in his eyes. It seemed to work because she smiled a little and patted him gently on the head.

Oh little Akane had the most wonderful, beautiful, most gracious friends!

They had slowly made their way through the group of girls before him. As they handed over their lovely items, he would examine it, trying to express his gratefulness he lovingly folded each item into the burglar's sack - it seemed to strange to carry them in anything else - as the girls went to sit in the stands with the rest of her classmates.

They reached the half-way mark when Akane made a motion to stop the next girl from moving towards him. Bewildered he turned his head towards her.

"Grandfather, it's now time to fulfill the rest of the bargain."

Oh. Pantyhose. He'd forgotten.

He could easily take the new items he acquired and dash out of the gym without honoring his part of the bargain but he was really enjoying himself. Sure, he missed the thrill of sneaking peeks at girls changing and adrenaline he got from being chased by a group of angry women, but this made for a nice change of pace. Never before had he been in a room with so many lovely young ladies and have them be so nice to him! He never understood why so few women appreciated it when he tried to compliment them. Besides, there's still the girl's school nearby that he'd been meaning to visit.

Turning to the boy in question he asked, "are you sure you want to change your name? Why Panty..."

"Yes! I'm sure."

"Fine, then your new name shall be Garter Belt!"

"No!" "Grandfather!" Taro and Akane shouted at the same time.

"You know what we agreed to," Akane said, giving him a stern look.

"Fine, fine. But are you quite sure you wouldn't like the name Bloomers?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Taro ground out.

Happosai looked the poor boy over, shaking his head. What was wrong with him? He should be enjoying his youth but instead he was high strung and stressed out. A vein was throbbing on his forehead and was that a tick developing in his right eye?

Sighing, he said, "very well, very well. Your new name shall be Awesome Taro."

_Why was the moron just gaping like that? Wasn__'__t this what he wanted? _

Happosai watched as Taro ran up to a random girl and ask, "what's my name?"

She giggled and said, "Umm...Awesome?"

"That's right, my name is Awesome!"

He jumped in the air with his arms straight out, forming a Y. Once he landed he ran towards Akane, grabbing her by the shoulder, which in turn caused Ranma to rise from his chair, eyes narrowed.

_Ho, ho, this can prove to be rather amusing._

"Thank you, thank you!" Taro pulled Akane into a big hug, pinning her arms to her side, rocking her left and right. He pulled back and said, "this never would have happened if it weren't for you!" He leaned in and gave her a rather enthusiastic kiss on the cheek before letting her go and screaming "THANK YOU!" He ran out the doors, leaving a red faced Akane staring after him.

Happosai chuckled at the poor girl's shock. _She should be used to that sort of attention by now. If her fianc__é__ treated her better, she would have been. _

"Get offa me! Get off I said!"

Sighing, he looked down at the struggling youth under him.

When Taro had pulled Akane into a hug, Ranma started forward but found his movements stopped by Happosai's index finger. Happosai then jumped behind him, pulling his arm backwards and forced Ranma on the floor.

Despite what he thought about the boy's lack of respect, Happosai was glad that Ranma would inherit the Anything Goes School that he founded. His first two disciples had been disappointing to say the least, even though they both were decent martial artist. One was a push over who turned into an emotional mess after the death of his wife. The other was inherently lazy and turned into a glutton, willing to sell his son off for food. Happosai didn't have that many standards but even he didn't approve of offering up the heir to the school for food.

Ranma though, was different. He had skill and spunk. He wouldn't let anyone push him around and that was exactly what this school needed to persevere.

And what Ranma needed was Akane.

A girl that would challenge him so he wouldn't turn into his father. A girl who had a natural talent for the arts herself. A girl who understood the perils of being a martial artist. A girl that understood the dedication it took to be a master. A girl that would give him strong heirs of his own.

But damn was that boy stupid. Happosai couldn't blame the lad for enjoying the attentions of the other beautiful young ladies around him but he needed to secure his relationship with Akane first. Then he could participate in all the extracurricular activities he wanted.

So to ensure the future of the school, he would just have to help things along. At the moment it involved making Ranma jealous. The boy needed to know that if he didn't make a claim, others would be happy to take his place.

And if he had a little fun in the process, then all the better.

"Ummm… Right… Why don't we continue what we were doing," Akane said, blush still staining her face.

"Of course, Akane!"

* * *

_Damn that old freak! Look at him, sitting there trying to act all innocent. Who the hell does he think he__'__s foolin? No one! _

Ranma wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of him. And Taro.

_That stupid bastard, hugging and kissing my fianc__é__e. My Akane. Who the hell does he think he is? What right does he have to lay a finger on her, much less use his lips! When I see__…_

"Ranma?"

He looked up to see Akane, she was bent over, offering him her hand. He wanted to smack it away but then he looked into her eyes.

There was a time when he didn't understand his fiancée at all. The things she did and the way she acted were often contradictory and strange at times. It took him a long time - not to mention a lot of bruises - to finally be able to read her. And he was still only working at a first grade level.

Her eyes were full of emotion. He could easily make out the concern in them, he was used to her looking at him like that, so it was easy to identify. They also seemed to be… apologetic? That was not a look she gave him often but he thought he had deciphered it correctly.

Sighing, he took her hand and held it lightly, enjoying the warmth radiating from the skin as her delicate fingers clasped his. Unwilling to let go of her hand, he got up slowly and held on for a moment longer than necessary before going to sit in his original spot.

Akane had walked over a moment later and claimed the empty chair, turning it around so she was faced the same direction as Happosai. He sat and desperately hoped this ordeal would be over soon. Yes, it was for a good cause but he still didn't like the idea of giving into the pervert and it still made him angry.

He had snuck a peek when it was Akane's turn to make a donation and he was disappointed to see her pull out that bathing suit. He had hated that thing for a long time as it was the only barrier between him and seeing Akane naked. _All_ of her. But since then, that piece of clothing had starred in many of his fantasies and he was sad to see it go.

Now all he wanted to do was go home and try to scrub the image of Taro kissing and hugging _his _fiancée out of his brain for good. Just the thought caused him clench in hands in anger. The next time he saw that asshole there was going to be hell to pay.

Just then, he caught some of what Akane was saying.

"...so that makes the last person."

"No, I don't think so."

"That is everyone in our class, I promise you Grandfather."

Suddenly Ranma was splashed over the head with cold water. Sputtering in indignation, he stood up and screamed, "whaddya do that for?"

"It seems, Akane, that we have one more girl in the class that has not given me a personal item."

"What the hell? There is no way I'm giving you anything you old freak!"

Happosai ignored Ranma and kept looking at Akane with a pout on his face, "you did promise me all the girls would participate."

Ranma moved forward and was once again stopped by the feel of a soft hand on his chest. Looking down he saw that Akane was close to him, very close.

He had no how idea how she got within his personal space without him noticing. Martial artists were trained to be highly aware of their surroundings as a way to be prepared for attacks. Being the best martial artist around, it was logical that his keen senses were also the best. But somehow, Akane always managed to slip under his radar.

Looking into her eyes, he saw that they had a mischievous sparkle in them and he noticed her mouth, '_trust me._'He gave her a slight nod in affirmation or it may have just been confusion, his brain was a little hazy after staring at her mouth.

She turned around and he regretted it as she moved her hand from his chest. She went to her bag and bent down to retrieve something, all the while giving him a glimpse of her bottom. He cursed those damn uniforms for obstructing what he was sure would have been a spectacular view.

Akane handed a cloth wrapped package over to Happosai, saying, "I had Kasumi get me a clean pair of Ranma's underwear this morning."

Eyes glistening, he greedily grabbed the package from Akane. Unwrapping it he froze, standing still as stone as the material dropped from his hands. Ranma looked down to see that a pair of his boxers lay on the floor and chuckled to himself.

Bursting into tears, Happosai cried, "Akane! H-how c-can you be so c-cruel to me!" He sniffled, as he looked at her with big round eyes, twiddling his fingers together and toeing the floor with his foot.

Ranma rolled his eyes as he watched Akane squat down so he could speak to Happosai eye to eye. "If you don't want them, I'm sure that Ranma would be happy to take them back. Now, why don't you go home and you can organize all your new pretties?" She gave him a warm smile.

Giving one last sniff, Happosai nodded eagerly and grabbing his sack, bounding off towards home.

Ranma went to pick up his underwear and shove it back in the cloth it was previously wrapped in as Akane thanked everyone. The gymnasium slowly cleared as Ranma helped his fiancée clean up.

As soon as everyone left, Akane grabbed her bag and pulled out a thermos, handing it to Ranma.

Taking the thermos, he smiled at it. He was touched that she had packed this just for him. He shouldn't be shocked - she was always looking out for him - but after growing up the way he did, it always surprised him that anyone would show him kindness like that.

"Thanks, 'kane," pouring the water over his head, he smiled warmly at her and said, "let's go home."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked the recent installment; this ends the first arc of the story! Thanks to everyone who has stuck with it and thanks again to everyone who has left a review! I love hearing your opinions!

Thanks, **PepperonyOwl** for being an awesome beta reader! She managed to get her comments to me quickly despite having the flu!

For those of you who do not own the manga but would like a set, Viz is re-releasing the series in two-in-one books. Bonus: the books are now being printed in the original Japanese format.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Ukyo had left school directly after lunch today to prepare for her date that afternoon. Ranma had been avoiding her since the wedding – she sneered whenever she thought of the event – so she had to make the most of this afternoon. She needed to find some way to finally make up him understand that they were meant to be together. If this went well, she was hopeful that she could parlay the afternoon date well into the evening and then hopefully into _more_.

When she reached _Ucchan__'__s_ she had sent Konatsu away, telling him that his help wasn't needed for the evening. She got a little testy when he was insistent that she needed his assistance for the evening rush and refused to leave. But once she explained that she had a date for the evening and they would not be opening at all, he had left rather quickly.

Which was perfect really, she was putting her best foot forward today and needed time to prepare. She knew that Ranma thought she was the "cute" fiancée and she was going to make sure she looked the part. She had kept her long hair down and had brushed it until it shined. Her hair was the one truly feminine feature she kept over the years of pretending to be a boy. She smirked as she thought of _her_ short hair. Ranma always called Akane a tomboy and Ukyo had always thought that her short hair had a lot to do with the appraisal.

Having spent a majority of her life playing down her feminine features, it took a couple of attempts but she successfully put on a light layer of make-up without looking like a clown. She had put an emphasis on her lips, applying a generous amount of lipgloss which would hopefully draw Ranma's attention and give him some ideas. For the occasion she had put on one of the few dresses she owned, which she bought on a whim. The blue dress had a fitted square top with large buttons down the front, thin straps and a full skirt. She thought the dress emphasized her womanly curves wonderfully and smirked at how much of her breast were on display. Which would set her apart from the flat-chested, built like a brick girl that Ranma so often complained about.

Now that she was ready, all she had to do was wait for Ranma to come and take her out on their date. She just wondered what they would be doing today. Would he take her to a fancy restaurant? Or maybe he would have planned a picnic for them in the park? Maybe a trip to the movies so they could cuddle together in the dark?

Regardless, he would most likely bring her some flowers. Roses were okay, but she adored tulips. But of course he knew that and she had brought out a vase in preparation.

Regardless of their plans, tonight would be perfect.

* * *

Ranma was walking on the fence, using it as a balancing exercise which he really didn't need. He had done it for so long, it was now habit and it also gave him a better view of the area around him, making it harder for people to sneak up on him.

He was walking a lot slower than he usually did, delaying when he would reach _Ucchan's. _He was dreading his visit with Ukyo. He was still mad at her for all the dangerous stunts she had pulled lately and her manipulating Akane to ask him for a date had really pissed him off. However, he had not been driven to the point where he was willing to throw away their friendship, no matter how shaky their relationship was at this point. He knew he had to give himself time to get over his anger before trying to save their friendship, which is why he had been avoiding his long-time friend.

A part of him also knew that he couldn't avoid Ukyo forever. He was a little afraid of what she would do if she got really desperate. But mainly he was willing to go along with this because Akane had asked him to and he had to admit, there was very little she asked of him.

He had to concede his home life was a lot less stressful now that he didn't have to worry about Happosai interrupting Akane or him while changing or in the bath. When his mother had moved into the Tendo home, he had begun to worry that the Grand Master would violate her privacy too. Happosai had yet to interrupt his mother during a bath but that didn't mean he wouldn't and he wouldn't put it past the old pervert to try. So for now, he was just glad he could let his guard down, at least a little.

School had been over for a while already and he couldn't aimlessly wander around, putting off the inevitable. By now business at the restaurant should have picked up so that Ukyo would be too busy to pay him much attention. Realizing he wouldn't make it home for dinner if he didn't get to the restaurant soon, he took a deep breath and headed towards his destination.

* * *

Strolling through the park was always a fun activity and since she had a rare afternoon to herself, she decided to take a leisurely walk. Though she wasn't enjoying herself as much as she thought she would. Ranma had jumped out of the window after school without as much as a glance in her direction. It irked her more than it should have, since she was well aware of the fact that he had his own active life.

She was excited to see Taro when she exited the building, hoping that she would get him to spar with her. But he had stopped by to run errands for the rest of the girls in the class and hadn't been able to spend any time with her. Today he would be helping move old patient files at Yuka's father's office.

Akane was just rounding a bend when she saw a beautiful young woman dressed in a kimono sitting on a nearby bench. As she got closer, she realized the rather forlorn looking girl looked familiar.

Walking forward, she smiled and said, "good afternoon, Konatsu."

Looking up in shock, Konatsu smiled though the kunoichi in him was slightly ashamed. He must have really been lost in thought if he allowed anyone to surprise him. "Good afternoon, Miss Akane!"

Giving him an indulgent smile, Akane replied, "Konatsu, please, you don't have to be so formal." Nodding to the empty space, she asked, "may I join you?"

"Of course, of course! I'm sorry, that was so rude of me. Please sit." Konatsu moved over slightly to give Akane more space.

"Are you ok? You seemed a little... sad when I walked up."

Giving Akane a wide smile that didn't reach his eyes, he said, "oh, I'm fine."

Konatsu was definitely not feeling fine but he didn't want to trouble Akane with his melancholy mood.

Sensing his hesitancy to talk about his problems, she quickly changed the topic, "so what are you doing out here? You have the day off?"

Konatsu looked down, "umm no. Miss Ukyo has closed the restaurant for the day."

"Really? That's unlike her, I hope she isn't sick."

"No, no, she's fine." Konatsu knew that the truth would hurt Akane and he didn't want to lie to her. Knowing she would find out the truth eventually, he said quietly, "s-she has a d-date this afternoon."

Konatsu watched as the Akane's smile dropped a little as she processed the information.

"Well...umm...good for..." Clearing her throat, Akane tried a different tactic, "so, what are your plans for the afternoon?"

"Me? Umm... this. I was just going to hang out in the park for a while."

"I've got a better idea! Why don't we go get some ice-cream instead!"

"Oh, that sounds wonderful but I don't really have..."

"My treat of course! Come on, it'll be fun." Akane gave him an encouraging smile.

He nodded his head eagerly, the choice being easy to make as Konatsu would rather spend time with the girl in front of him than wallow in his own self pity. Plus he would be able to indulge in such a decadent treat!

* * *

Ranma was confused as he knocked on the front door of Ucchan's; the restaurant looked as if it was closed for the day. He was surprised when Ukyo opened the door almost immediately.

Giving Ranma a big smile, she exclaimed, "Ran-chan! There you are! Come on in, sugar!"

Ranma followed her into the restaurant. Normally, his senses were overwhelmed by the scent of okonomiyaki cooking, the sound of the griddle sizzling, and the sights of happy customers eating and he fleetingly thought that the restaurant was a little eerie when it was empty.

Grabbing a stool by the counter he sat down, swiveling himself right and left.

Ukyo had been waiting for at least an hour for Ranma to show up and when he finally did, he walked in without saying a word. No flowers, no candy and it looked like he didn't even bother cleaning up before showing up for their date! He was wearing his standard clothing; a sleeveless top and black pants.

Now he was just sitting there, acting like nothing was wrong! They had a date and she had been waiting! And he still hadn't said anything about her new dress. She longed for her spatula - a whack over the head was exactly what he deserved - and cursed the fact that she decided to leave her bandoleer in her room. She was frustrated to say the least.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. The date could still be salvaged and she would just have to make the best of the situation. Putting on a bright smile, she asked, "so, where ya taking me, Sugar?"

Cocking his head to the side, Ranma said, "Whatcha talkin about? Why would I be taking you anywhere?"

Ukyo could have smacked herself on the head, or better yet smack him on the head. Her smile became tight as she said, "well, we did have a date planned for today."

"Date? What date?"

She growled, "the date you told me you were taking me on. You remember? After school yesterday..."

"Oh, that! Yeah, I just said I was stopping by, I didn't agree to any date."

Clenching her hands in anger she said, "that's ok. We can just stay here since we have the place to ourselves. And I know how much you love my cooking."

Ranma only shrugged in response.

* * *

The trip to the ice cream shop was a little awkward as both people were feeling a little sad for themselves but were trying to put on a brave face for each other. They had never spent any time alone and Akane didn't realize how uncomfortable it would be without Ranma as a buffer. Things stayed awkward as they looked over their menus.

Akane wanted to giggle when she saw Konatsu's eyes widen when he took a look at the menu. She didn't know what was more shocking for the poor fellow, the pictures of the elaborate treats or the prices that went along with them.

Asking Konatsu what he wanted, she was unsurprised and a bit disappointed when he requested a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice-cream. She had tried to talk him into something more extravagant but he waved the suggestion away. Not wanting to order something decadent (even though she really wanted it) when he was getting something so simple, she had resigned herself to a scoop of rainbow sherbet.

Akane glanced up and her lips quirked as she recognizing the waiter walking towards them; it was the same boy who served her on her last trip to the restaurant with Ranma. He took their order before asking Akane about her "cute redheaded friend". Akane told him that she was busy this afternoon and wouldn't be joining them. He left to put in their order, looking rather dejected.

Once the waiter was out of earshot, Akane relayed the story to Konatsu who seemed to become more comfortable as the story progressed and laughed at Ranma's antics. Konatsu had then started telling Akane a story about one of his sister's unsuccessful attempt at trying to get some free pastries.

* * *

Ranma watched as Ukyo started turning on and prepping her grill, pulling out ingredients for okonomiyaki and an apron. Even though she was trying to be pleasant, he could sense the irritation rolling off her in waves. Usually he would try to do something to make her laugh or smile to break the tension but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Ukyo was glad she had the distraction of cooking to calm her down. She didn't understand what was happening. This was supposed to be a funafternoon. They were supposed to hang out and bond. He was supposed to see that _she _would be the perfect wife for him. But no. All he'd done since he came in was sit there.

The silence felt deafening. She realized that if she wanted anything to happen today, she would have to make more of an effort.

Looking up and sending him a warm smile, she said, "isn't this nice, Ranma? Just you and me. Alone together. It's homey huh?"

Ranma grunted noncommittally.

Choosing to be the bigger person she ignored his lack of response as she continued, "you know, once we're married it'll be like this all the time." Checking her batter and falling into routine, she missed his eye roll. "We would work together here during the day, making the best okonomiyaki around before have a quiet dinner together when the day is over."

The smile that graced her face was now genuine as she allowed herself to be lost in the picture of the future she imagined for them. "It sounds perfect doesn't it?" She continued to describe to him what she thought of as their idyllic life together. Lost in her own musings, she rambled on, missing the stony look that crept over his face.

* * *

Akane and Konatsu left the ice-cream parlor together, both in much better moods than they entered in. The awkwardness between them had disappeared as they bonded over their rather unusual lives. Enjoying their time together and neither wanting it to end, they decided to spend the rest of the afternoon together at the park.

They were still laughing and telling each other stories as they walked along a path towards the water. Looking over, Akane's face suddenly froze and she moaned, "oh no."

* * *

Ranma was glad that Ukyo had finished cooking her food; eating saved him from having to participate in conversation. Not that he was worried; she'd been on her happy monologue for what felt like forever.

He was amazed at her little speech. He didn't know how she thought he would be happy with her imagined future.

A life where his main goal was running a restaurant. Day in and day out, serving people. Never being able to focus on his art. Having the skills he worked so hard to gain wasted.

What gave her the idea that he wanted to run a restaurant? He loved food and he loved to eat but that was it. He didn't care how it was made and definitely didn't care to make it for strangers.

And she wanted children. Lots of children. She wanted to train them in her style of martial arts so they could continue running the restaurant. Or if her plans worked out, they could each run a branch of her restaurants throughout Japan. She gave no thought to his school or the fact that he may want to train his children in the Anything Goes style.

The idea of kids was strange to him, despite the fact that his father kept insisting he produce an heir for the school. It wasn't that he didn't want kids. He did. In an abstract way. But he was a seventeen year old boy and that wasn't on his priority list.

On the few occasions he did think about children, he knew who he envisioned to be their mother. Lately, he began having dreams of Akane that were completely different than the ones he usually had.

Akane standing at a window as the light silhouetted her body, one hand rubbing her swollen belly and the other supporting her back.

Akane cradling a small bundle in her arms as she sang and rocked it to sleep.

Akane crouched down, her arms open as a baby toddled towards her and she smiled encouragingly.

It was really sappy, kinda lame and would be totally embarrassing if anyone found out about them. But none of that mattered because remembering those dreams brought a smile to his face.

If he were paying attention to the conversation in front of him, he would have known that smiling at that moment was a mistake.

* * *

After having made three okonomiyakis for Ranma and one for herself, Ukyo turned off the griddle and went to sit next to Ranma at the counter. What had started out horribly was turning out rather well. She had finally told him her deepest desires, describing in detail the future she saw of them together. She was nervous at first, since it seemed he was unhappy with what she was saying but after a while it was obvious that he was giving her ideas some serious thought.

She had finished her food and was continuing to tell him about her dream to franchise, with each of their children being given their own restaurant. They would be given more stability and security than either her or Ranma had growing up. Now that she had laid everything out for him, she needed to know what he thought.

"So, Ranma what do you think?"

She was disappointed at first when he didn't respond. But Ukyo was flooded with relief and happiness when he finally smiled at her.

_See? I knew he wanted a future with me._

Now that he made it clear how he felt, she should make herself clear to him. She had once tried to show him the benefits of having her as a wife, which included the intimacy that they would share once they were married. She was nervous then, hoping that just sharing a bed with him would be enough to show him how serious she was. She didn't know if that offer would have led to more but she had been willing to take the risk. It was a moot point, since he didn't actually share a bed with her that night.

She had spent enough time as a boy and around boys to know exactly what a teenage boy wanted from his girlfriend. She was no longer nervous to take this next step with him. In fact she was more than willing to share with him what a fiancée ought to, truly committing herself to him.

She smoothed her hair and arranged it in a pleasing manner. Ukyo subtly pulled the hem of her skirt higher to show off her toned thighs, and quickly undid the top button of her dress, pulling the corners down. Taking a deep breath, she leaned closer to Ranma and placed a hand firmly on his thigh and a light kiss on his bare muscular arm.

Still lost in thought Ranma barely felt a hand land on his upper thigh before he felt a pair of lips land on his shoulder.

"Stop."

"Why?" She leaned in to place another kiss on his shoulder but he suddenly stood up and stepped away from her. Standing up and crossing her arms in a way she knew would push up her breasts, she said, "it's ok. I'm ready."

Ranma cursed his lack of attention since he had no idea what was happening. He had an inkling of what she was implying once he took in the state of her clothing and recent actions, but he really hoped he was wrong.

"Ready for what?"

She walked up to him and ran a finger slowly up his arm. "To show you how much I love you. It's ok, I know you want this as much as I do."

Ranma just shook his head in exasperation. What was it with the women in his life throwing themselves at him? Did they really think that he could be led around with his dick?

"What in the world gave you that idea?"

"You! You seemed perfectly happy a second ago at the idea of us together."

"I don't know why you would think that but you're wrong. That… life you have planned, it has nothing to do with me. Everything you said was describing what you want, but you never once gave a thought to what I would want."

"That's not true!" Ukyo said exasperatedly. Trying to calm down, she said, "if there was something I said that….offended you or you didn't like, we can change it."

"There was nothing about what you said that I liked or could even imagine for my future!"

Ukyo narrowed her eyes dangerously, "well then, what do you want?" When he didn't comment right away she went on, "Why are you being so pig-headed about this? You know we're going to end up together!"

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"Because! I'm the cute one! I'm the one that can cook! I'm the one that's known you the longest!"

Ranma felt disappointment wash over him. "Is that what you think? That _that's_ all that matters to me? That I'm going to decide who to spend the rest of my life with based on how someone looks and what they can make me for dinner? Do you really think I am that shallow?"

"Of course! That's all you ever talk about! What else am I supposed to think?" she screamed.

Giving her a cold look he said, "you may have known me the longest but it's pretty clear that you don't understand me at all."

Ranma walked out without looking back.

* * *

'Twas a lovely afternoon for a stroll through the park. The sun was shining brightly and a cool breeze ensured he was comfortable. He was admiring the lovely foliage in bloom and greatly appreciated the beauty before him, even if he had to share the space with the lowly commoners that surrounded him. But he was used to such things. After all, not everyone could be descended from nobility, like himself.

But all was not right; the beauty around him did not fill him with joy as it normally would have. The bereft young man was lost in contemplation over the sorry state of his love life. Tatewaki Kuno sighed over his own misery.

From the moment he saw her, he had given his heart and soul to the lovely, vital Akane Tendo. He saw no other who could match his fire and longed to have her for his own.

But he knew that her beauty had come with a price, there were others who would seek her affection. To save her from those who did not deserve her, he set out a simple task for those who tried to woo her. To be allowed the chance at her hand, they had only to beat her in battle to prove their worth. It was an ingenious plan, for he had saved her from many unworthy men as he distinguished himself from the riff raff.

Being a wholesome, chaste young woman, Akane had rejected his initial advances, but he did not begrudge her that. He knew that she wanted to be sure of his affection, that his was not a fleeting romance before she accepted his courtship. It was laughable to think that his love for her was anything beyond transcendent but she was only a woman, so she could not understand the all-consuming power of his emotions. To prove himself to her, he set out to assure her of his intentions. Day after day. It was hard work but whom other than he, one of the strongest, most noble of men, would deserve her?

Kuno paused in his thoughts as he saw a group of lovely young maidens running in his direction. He quickly withdrew a red rose bringing it to his nose to smell, as he propped his right foot on a nearby rock and placed his left hand on his hip, creating what he knew to be a dashing image for the vibrant ladies coming his way. As they grew closer, he gave them a wide charming smile, the sun glinting off his perfect white teeth, and winked at a comely girl with auburn tresses. Even when he was feeling melancholy he would take the time to bring a little bit of sunshine into the otherwise dreary daily lives of these ordinary girls. Kuno amazed even himself at how self-sacrificing he could be.

As the girls passed him, he let out a sigh and allowed his thoughts to wind back around to Akane. She had always been a diamond in the rough, shining so much brighter than those around her. But lately, when he looked at her she seemed to have lost some of the spark that made her unique.

She had always been vivacious, full of life, passionate! Now she seemed so indifferent to his attentions, so lackadaisical in her responses. She had actually avoided his challenges and let that fiend Saotome interfere with their morning tête-à-têtes. This was definitely not the determined beauty that he fell for. It was almost as if she didn't want his attentions anymore. But no, that was preposterous!

Suddenly an ugly thought crept in his mind. Perhaps he misjudged her. As heartbreaking as it was to imagine, maybe she had fooled him into believing she was worthy of his adore and the effort to keep up appearances became too much for her to bear, leaving only this shell of the girl he had so often longed for.

But no! He must banish those thoughts; a true gentleman would have more faith in their beloved. He felt like a cad for having entertained those ideas for even a millisecond. To repent, he must put more effort into gaining her hand and never again waiver in his pursuit. In return, she would once again shine with the ferocity that he knew existed in her very soul.

As soon as he made this solemn vow, the object of his desires appeared and he knew immediately that this was a sign from the heavens that he was once again on a righteous path.

* * *

Konatsu giggled to himself. What started as a miserable afternoon had turned into a wonderful one.

He never regretted leaving his step-mother and stepsisters. The life he led now was full of happiness. He had a roof over his head, was able to eat extravagantly, a full bowl of rice at _every _meal! He slept on nice comfortable futon - with sheets _and_ a blanket. He even had his own room (a storage closet)! He had a job that he could be proud of! And he was making so much money, he didn't know what to do with it all! But most of all, he had Ukyo. She was the light of his life.

It wasn't a secret that he loved her and he knew that she didn't return his feelings. But he never let it get him down, since he knew someone as wonderful as her could never love someone like him. But he was determined that she have a happy life and he would do his best to help her whenever he could. Even if the things he had participated in had made him sad and a little ashamed. But growing up as kunoichi, he learned long ago that sometimes you had to be ruthless and underhanded to get what you want.

So when Ukyo had told him today that she had a date with Ranma, he was happy for her. Honestly, he was. But he was a little sad for himself. If Ranma and Ukyo got married, he would no longer be needed at _Ucchan's _and then where would he go?

For the first time since leaving his stepmother's home, he had truly felt lonely.

It came as a surprise, running into Akane at the park and he felt a little awkward. He hadn't seen her since the wedding and he was still a bit ashamed at his part in helping to make the okonomiyaki bombs, not matter how unwitting the participation. Their initial interaction was stiff to say the least, but things changed once they sat down for ice-cream. He had never spent any one-on-one time with Akane, so it was a surprising for him to learn that she had a sense of humor.

They had bonded over stories of their random adventures and found that they had a bit in common. They both had two older sisters. They both lost their mothers at a young age. They both loved martial arts. And even though it was never vocalized, they both had an unrequited love they would do anything for.

He was happy to be able to continue spending time with Akane. He was currently telling her about the time his sister attempted to seduce a salary man when he heard Akane groan. Looking up he saw a rather tall young man running towards them, shouting, "Akane Tendo, my love!"

Noting his white kendogi and blue hakama, Konatsu quickly realized that this was the infamous Tatewaki Kuno he had heard about. He had glimpsed the other man once at the failed wedding but with all the chaos, he didn't get a good look.

The kendoist was fast approaching them, shouting, "Akane, I challenge you!" He pulled out his bokken as he continued charging forward.

Konatsu watched avidly as the kondoist yelled, "strike, strike, strike" as he drew closer to the pair. He was surprised that the air pressure alone was causing the air around them to swirl even at this distance. Turning he realized that Akane had not taken a defensive position nor made any offensive moves. All she had done was distance herself from Konatsu, moving forward and further to the side.

Once Kuno came close enough, he swung at her, causing her to dodge to the right. He followed her, shuffling his feet forward and made another strike, which Akane dodged to the left this time.

They continued their little dance which puzzled Konatsu. There were holes in Kuno's attacks that Akane could have easily taken advantage of to end the fight quickly, but all she did was evade. While it was true that Konatsu had never seen her fight, he knew that she had some skill. Watching their fight continue, it finally dawned on him that Akane didn't want to hit the boy. He had no idea why, but that was the only logical explanation for the game of cat and mouse the two seemed to be participating in.

Deciding to help his friend, Konatsu ran forward and placed quick punches to Kuno's kidney and chest before kicking him in the face, sending him flying against a nearby tree.

He turned to Akane and was rewarded him with a wide smile. In that moment, he realized why Ukyo was having such a hard time getting Ranma to commit to her.

"Thanks, Konatsu."

"No problem, Akane." Looking over to Kuno who was still on the floor, he asked, "why did you not want to fight him?"

Akane laughed, "it's a long story. But the gist of it is, if I hit him I would be accepting his challenges which only encourages him. I've been trying to avoid his attacks but it gets hard when he is so darn persistent! Usually Ranma handles him so I don't get tempted to give in and beat the hell out of him. Why don't we get outta..."

"Who dares strike at me?" Kuno bellowed.

Looking over, they watched as Kuno got slowly back on his feet.

* * *

Kuno was a little dazed as he stood up. The hit he took was rather unexpected and unappreciated as it did not come from his beloved. He had challenged her, hoping to see the sparkle return to her eyes, a sure sign that all was back to normal. At first it looked like his plan was a failure but the longer he persisted, the more successful he felt. He could see the old fire coming back. That was until they were so rudely interrupted. When he found the culprit, he was going to make the assailant pay for their misdeeds.

Looking up, he saw Akane, looking lovely in their school uniform. Next to her was a beautiful girl dressed in a traditional kimono and looking at him curiously. He looked around and saw no one else around them.

_Maybe the evil doer ran away with his tail tucked in between his legs._

Suddenly the kimono clad girl, giggled and said, "I'm sorry, sir. That would be me."

"Forgive me, but I do not believe a delicate flower such as yourself would be able to achieve such a task."

The girl pulled out a fan, artfully expanding it before placing it in front of the lower half of her face. She looked at him through her lashes saying, "of course a man as strong and handsome as yourself would be unaccustomed to anyone challenging you. However, it really was me. I must apologize for my brash behavior but I felt it necessary to aid my friend." She then bowed lowly to him.

Being a chivalrous man, he would of course accept her apology.

"Think nothing of it good lady. It was a lucky shot for I was distracted and I cannot fault you for being a good friend."

The girl only gave him a slight nod in acknowledgement and then batted her eyes at him which caused his heart to race in his chest.

"Forgive me, but we have not been properly introduced. My name is Tatewaki Kuno, rising star of the kendo world, captain of Furinkan High School's kendo team, known throughout the land by the name 'Blue Thunder', age 18." He gave her a low dramatic bow.

She giggled again, before saying demurely, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Kuno, my name is Konatsu."

Walking up to the beautiful young woman, he decided to bestow upon her a kiss to show his appreciation of her beauty. Taking her hand he raised it to his lips and was surprised when she pulled back quickly and slapped him across his face.

"I am sorry, but I cannot allow a stranger to take such liberties."

He looked into her eyes and there it was! The sparkle that he had missed seeing lately. His heart beat even faster as he took another look at the girl before him.

She really was beautiful. She had long hair pulled back into a pony tail and a strong but delicate face. She carried herself with poise and was well spoken. There seemed to be an interesting dichotomy about her; her delicate femininity hiding the strength that he had just witnessed. She, like himself, seemed to value the traditional. Something that both the pig-tailed girl and Akane Tendo both lacked.

A light bulb went off over his head.

Could it be possible that the heavens had led him to this lovely young woman today and not Akane? Was it a sign that in his darkest hour he be presented with a girl that had both the innocence and passionate nature of Akane combined with the beauty and vitality of his pigtailed goddess, along with the poise and grace of his own noble nature?

He could not, would not ignore the call of destiny!

"Well, may I suggest take the opportunity to get to know each other better then. Will you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?" Kuno asked, presenting her with a dozen red roses.

Delicately taking the flowers from him, she gave him a flirtatious smile as she said, "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

Akane watched the scene unfold before her with amusement and her jaw dropped when she heard Konatsu accepted a date with Kuno.

Frozen in shock, she could do nothing as she watched the pair walk away. They had only moved a short distance when Kuno tried to put his arms around Konatsu. In response, Konatsu threw him over his shoulder and onto the ground before waving a finger at Kuno, clearly telling him that behavior was unacceptable. Waiting for Kuno to stand, the kunoichi turned his head and winked at Akane before strolling off with his new admirer.

Akane watched as they walked away, still processing what had just transpired. Could it be that Konatsu had taken it upon himself to help her by catching Kuno's attention? She had told him a few stories of Kuno's obsessiveness and how he was easily distracted by a pretty face. It was obvious that he was using his kunoichi training in seduction against Kuno. It worked spectacularly because once he started flirting with the kendoist, it was if she had became invisible.

Suddenly Akane started laughing. Laughing until her sides hurt and tears formed in her eyes. She would have to find some way to thank the kunoichi for his help.

* * *

**A/N:** The next couple of chapters will be standalone chapters. I have two arcs planned for later in the story but there needs to be some set up before that happens.

I really hope you liked the Kuno POV. It was really hard for me since it is the opposite of the way I write but ended up being a lot of fun once I got into it.

As always, thanks to **PepperonyOwl** for her general awesomeness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Akane and Nodoka strolled into the shopping district of Nerima, armed with shopping lists and baskets for their future purchases. When Akane heard she was getting another cooking lesson she had been understandably excited at the prospect. However, she had been confused when she walked into the kitchen and saw Kasumi already prepping for their evening meal while Nodoka was writing something on the kitchen counter.

"Aunty, aren't we cooking today?" she asked in confusion.

"No, we're going shopping," she replied with a smile on her face. When Akane's face showed disappointment, Nodoka added, "A big part of cooking is making sure you have the right ingredients. We had a good lesson the other day on how to identify good produce and I want to see how much you remembered. Don't worry, we'll also be learning something new."

Not fully mollified but not wanting to act ungrateful she replied, "Okay."

On their way to town, Nodoka explained that they would be making chicken udon the next day and would be stopping by several stores to pick up the necessary ingredients. Their first stop was the butcher shop. Akane was surprised when Nodoka walked up to the counter and asked for three chickens.

"Aunty, do we need that all of that just for the chicken udon?"

"No, we don't. We'll be using parts of the thighs and legs for the broth and then be using the meat from those pieces for the udon. The breasts and wings will be cut and set in the fridge for dinner the following evening; I believe Kasumi will be making teriyaki with the breast and frying the chicken wings. The chicken skin, livers, hearts, and gizzards will be used for yakitori to go along with the udon."

Looking around, Akane noticed the butcher had all of these individual pieces already processed and ready for purchase. She thought that buying them that way would seem to save time.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just buy them already pre-cut?"

"Yes, but if you bought each of the ingredients pre-cut it would cost more than buying a chicken whole. The butchers charge for their services." Nodoka paused before adding, "Martial Artist don't make that much money and as a martial artist's wife, one has to find ways to stretch a yen. One easy way to do that is try to stretch your grocery budget. Especially if you are married to someone with a bottom-less pit for a stomach. "

Nodoka gave Akane a meaningful look and the young girl blushed.

They left the store, not noticing the person who had been watching them from the window or the way their eyes narrowed in anger.

* * *

Ranma was currently walking around town, bored and looking for a distraction. He was still angry at Ukyo and what she had said yesterday and wanted to take his mind off things.

But if he were honest with himself, he was getting angry more often lately. Worse, his anger wasn't going away like it used to. Before, he would be able to simply shrug things off.

Attack him out of the blue? Forgotten after the ensuing battle.

Whack him on the head with a blunt object? It was a forgiven as soon as he regained consciousness.

But after China, his temper had been bubbling just below the surface, ready to explode at anyone who ticked him off.

Anyone but Akane. She seemed to have the unique ability to calm him. A simple touch of her hand on his chest could tame him almost instantly.

He noticed the other day that she had the unique ability to sneak up on him, getting in so close she could be touching him before he even noticed her presence. He had been worried that somehow his martial arts skills were slipping before it hit him; he had absolutely no fear of Akane. Sure, she would hit him when provoked - and even that had stopped recently - but he knew that she would never do anything to really hurt him. She was the only one that was always there for him. Even when he insisted that he didn't need her.

She had been on his side from the beginning, even when he thought she hated him. She had forgiven him for all the things he said about her. She had helped him when he was hiding his identify from his mother. He could go on and on describing the ways Akane was there for him.

It had finally hit him, Akane was the only person he trusted with his life. And she had earned it by risking hers for him time and again.

He must have realized it unconsciously and that is why she could get past his defenses in a way that no one else could.

Before he had left the house, he had gone to see if Akane wanted to hang out with him and was disappointed when he saw her and his mother leave together. He had to admit that he was happy that the two women got along so well. Although Akane never said it, he could tell that she thought of his mother as a surrogate for her own and treated Nodoka with the respect and love she would have shown her own mother.

Before his curse was revealed, he was actually very jealous of their relationship, wishing he had such an open and honest one with his mother, not one full of lies. But now that she knew about his curse and he had admitted - to himself at least - his feelings for Akane, he was more than glad that they had developed a bond.

Walking on top of the fence along the canal, Ranma paused when he heard the familiar sound of a bike bell ring near him. A moment later, he heard the cry, "Airen! Airen" and he sighed warily.

He hadn't seen the Amazon since the incident at the park, which he was very happy about. Turning to his right, he saw the amazon riding her bike along the fence, headed directly towards him. For once, she had stopped her bike before it landed on his head and she jumped off it and headed for him, her arms wide open, clearly expecting a warm welcome.

Waiting until the very last possible moment, Ranma grabbed her left arm as she tried to wrap it around him, throwing her over his shoulder. He turned to watch as the amazon did a flip in mid-air so that she could land firmly on her feet. But unfortunately for her, there was nowhere to go and she fell into the canal. Ranma closed his eyes before she hit the water, not wanting to see her cursed form.

Whistling to himself he turned to walk away. He walked two feet before jumping backwards onto the fence, a mace flying through the spot he had just been standing in.

"What did you do to my beloved Shampoo?" Mousse screamed as he launched several more weapons at Ranma. "I demand to know where she is!"

The blind martial artist continued to launch a few more weapons and one portable toddler potty at him. Ranma, having almost been hit a few times, realized Mousse was actually wearing his glasses for once.

"Don't worry Mousse, I'll help you find her," Ranma taunted before rushing towards his opponent at top speed, looking ready to ram him. Mousse jumped straight up, caught off guard as he did not expect such a response from Ranma. A moment later, he felt a foot hit his back and he flew over the fence and splashed in the canal.

The pig-tailed boy watched as the man transformed into a duck and paddled away, presumably to look for a purple cat. He really didn't want to do that to Mousse since he really did consider the guy a friend, but he saw no other way to end the fight without doing some serious injury to the other man. Mousse was just too myopic when it came to his obsession to Shampoo.

Ranma chuckled at his own joke before looking down and noticing that his shirt had a cut along the stomach. Taking a closer look, he realized he also had a cut along the side of his stomach. It wasn't too bad - especially since he didn't even remember getting hit - but deep enough that he should get it taken care of. He had to give it to Mousse, his aim was getting much better.

Sighing, he headed towards Dr. Tofu's office, knowing the doctor could patch him up quickly without getting worked up like either his mother or Akane.

Opening the clinic door, he headed toward the back examination area when he saw the front room was empty. He was just about to call out when he stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw dropping in shock at what was going on before him.

* * *

With all their purchases in tow, the two ladies headed back home where Akane watched as Nodoka deftly processed the first chicken into different parts.

The Saotome matriarch showed Akane how to hold the knife properly and let her, with supervision, cut up the second chicken which took a lot longer to do. After seeing that Akane handled the knife successfully, she allowed her to attempt the last chicken by herself, only needing to make minor suggestions when the young girl forgot a step.

Akane was happy with the lesson, since she learned more than she expected but was disappointed when she found out that she wouldn't be able to help make the broth tomorrow. The broth took at least 8 hours to make and Aunty would be starting it right after they left for school the next morning.

But the lesson left Akane completely boggled. She had been enjoying Kasumi's meals for years without thought into the amount of effort and time it must have taken her older sister to prepare such wonderful meals. She had always respected Kasumi and that respect had just multiplied exponentially when she thought of all the work that her sister put into making their lives run as smoothly as possible. And the huge responsibility she had taken on at such a young age.

Suddenly it was like a light bulb went off over her head and Akane had an epiphany. She had always dived in head first when she wanted to cook. She never spent any time preparing. She just thought of something she wanted to cook and started doing it, not even taking the time to consider if she had all the ingredients. When she thought of the amount of time it must have taken Kasumi to restock the supplies she used, she cringed.

Upon further introspection, she understood that the one time she had successfully made the pot of curry, she had bought and prepared the ingredients before she began cooking.

She vowed that from this point forward she would put more time and energy into all the parts of cooking and not just try to throw things together.

* * *

Ranma blinked, then rubbed his eyes and blinked again. He definitely wasn't seeing things.

Dr. Tofu was standing before him, his arms wrapped around Kasumi's waist, with her hands placed gently on his chest.

Oh and they were kissing.

Ranma tried to move backwards as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb the pair in front of him. But just then the couple broke apart and he heard Kasumi squeak when she noticed Ranma in the room. Dr. Tofu was just standing there dazed; his glasses fogged over, a stunned look on his face and a smile on his lips.

"R-ranma, wh-what are you doing here?" Kasumi asked nervously.

"Nothing! I'm here for nothing! I didn't see anything! I'll just be going now." Ranma said, before moving towards the door.

"Ranma! What happened to your stomach?" Kasumi asked, looking at his shirt.

"It's okay, it's nothing, really..."

"No, it's not okay. You need to have that looked at right now. I'll just wait outside for you."

She walked out, closing the dividing door behind her. Ranma was unsure of what to do. He really wanted to leave, not willing to risk being examined by the doctor in his current haze. But he knew Kasumi wouldn't just let him leave without some sort of treatment. Before he could make a decision, he heard someone cough behind him.

"Hello there Ranma, I didn't see you come in. Why don't you come over here and have a seat, while I take a look at you."

Ranma walked over cautiously. Tofu seemed to be acting normally but he was still concerned, remembering the time he left with his neck stuck at a weird angle from the doctor just looking at Kasumi. He shuddered as he imagined what would be the result of the man kissing her. He was sure he would walk out with some of his limbs going the wrong direction.

"Hey, doc. How you been?"

"Good, it's been a long time since I've seen you. Now, can you take off your shirt so I can look at your cut?"

Taking off his shirt he decided to stay quiet, wanting to distract him. It was amazing that he was acting so normal after kissing Kasumi.

Kasumi!

His brain was still having a hard time processing the information.

"So Ranma, about what you saw..."

"It's okay doc, it's none of my business," Ranma said, secretly dying to know what was going on between the pair.

"Well, I don't think that's true but I think it's best if Kasumi tells you herself."

"Sure." Ranma agreed.

He watched as Dr. Tofu cleaned the wound and declared that he did not need stitches, placing a large swatch over the wound.

As Ranma was putting on his shirt, his curiosity got the better of him. "Ummm... so I noticed that you are... ummm acting pretty normal after what I saw earlier..." he asked tentatively, not really knowing how to phrase his question.

"And you are wondering why it is that I am not running around town, dancing with Betty?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, replied, "Yes."

"Without giving too much away, I will say that I've become accustomed to Kasumi's presence, so I don't react the way I used to. But her kisses still dazzle me and it takes me a moment or two to get back to normal," he said with a smirk.

Laughing, Ranma thanked the doctor and headed home with Kasumi. On their walk he learned that she had started coming around the doctor more and more during the last two years. And Tofu had slowly started to get used to her being around him. It took a while but gradually the amount of 'lucid' time increased. Although, when he was unprepared to seeing her, he would revert back temporarily.

Things turned serious when Akane was kidnapped and brought to China. Kasumi had been worried about her sister and distraught she had gone to Tofu for support. Knowing that he had to step up and be there to comfort her, he was finally able to hold her without acting out.

She had gone over to the clinic today to drop off some dinner for Tofu, a good excuse to visit when she missed him. She was just saying her goodbyes when Ranma had walked in.

"Ranma? Do you think you could keep this to yourself? I don't like asking you to lie to Akane, or anyone else, but I just want to see where this goes without our family interfering. You know how our fathers are about weddings. I just don't want to tempt fate," she said quietly.

Ranma was touched that Kasumi not only considered him part of the family, but his parents too.

"Of course, Kasumi. Your secret is safe with me."

He definitely thought the couple deserved some peace and quiet before their family found out; no doubt causing chaos for them with their well intentioned meddling.

It was nice to know that someone was figuring out their life. He still had no idea what to do to get out of the mess his father got him in. No matter how angry he had been lately, he still wanted to leave things as amicably as possible.

The pair walked the remainder of the way home in silence. Kasumi glad she finally had a confidant in her future brother-in-law, for she was certain him and Akane would end up together. Ranma was happy for Kasumi but confused about his own life and still angry anytime he thought about Ukyo.

* * *

The next afternoon, Akane walked out of school alone. Ranma had disappeared after class and she wondered if he was avoiding her. It didn't escape her notice that Ukyo had also left quickly and she wondered if the pair was spending another afternoon together.

She was distracted from those thoughts when she saw a now familiar figure standing at the gates of the school.

"Hi, Taro. Are you here to do some more errands? I thought you had completed them all?" She asked, slightly confused.

"I have but I happened to be close by and wanted to know if you wanted to spar?"

"Really? You came all the way here just to see if I wanted to spar?"

Taro shrugged, "Sure, why not."

Akane gave him a big smile and nodded in agreement before they started off towards her house so she could change.

As they walked they passed a group of girls, causing Taro to turn his head and smile at the group. He watched them as they walked away.

"Taro, stop being such a pervert," Akane hissed at him, slightly surprised and embarrassed by his behavior.

Taro turned to her, a look of surprise on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"Those girls, you shouldn't be staring at them like that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's...it's just not right."

"I'm a guy. It's what we do. And just to set the record straight, I wasn't staring at them I was just looking at them. There's a difference. I mean, it's not like I was going to pounce on them or anything."

"Well how do I know that? More importantly, how do they?" she asked sounding skeptical.

Shocked, Taro asked, "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

When she didn't answer right away, he began getting angry.

"Seriously, is that what you think of me?"

"No, not really." Akane said with a sigh. "It's just that from my experience, when a guy notices a girl, he ends up... well... trying to force her to... go out with him."

Taro laughed at her comment, thinking she was joking but stopped when he realized she was being serious. Thinking back to his brief interaction with the males at her school, he realized he should have known better.

"It's natural for guys to look at girls and for girls to look at guys. I'm sure you get checked out and hit on more than you realize. There's nothing wrong with a guy taking a glance at a girl. It just means he appreciated how she looks. It's only bad if he makes her uncomfortable by staring too long. Or makes her think that he's going to force himself on her."

When she continued to look uncertain, he tried a different approach.

"I'm sure you've checked out a guy or two yourself." She arched her eyebrow at him and he added, "Don't tell me you've never eyeballed Saotome."

Akane thought back to watching Ranma train in the yard, clad only in his black pants and ribbed cotton tank-top. She remembered the way his muscles tensed as he moved through his kata, sweat dripping down his neck as it reached that sexy point where his collar bones touched.

Then unbidden, the image changed and suddenly she was picturing Ranma completely naked as he emerged from the furo, water dripping off his entire muscular body. She remembered watching as one rather large drop worked its way down his eight-pack abs and stopped when it reached his dark thatch of hair. Her gaze continued down until it finally landed on the appendage that lay between his legs.

Growing hot, she shook her head to rid herself of the image.

Taro chuckled at her response. "It's okay, you don't need to be embarrassed," he said, misinterpreting her expression. "And he's checked out other girls - like that hot amazon chick - but it doesn't mean anything."

"Why do you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, not really."

"Well, when you were kidnapped, she was practically naked and prancing around in front of him but he didn't even notice; his entire focus was on you."

"Then how do you know he's checked her out?"

"Have you seen the chick? She's fucking hot. He'd have to be dead or gay not to have checked her out." He paused, like he was contemplating something, "He's not gay, right?"

She smacked him on the shoulder, "You know he's not."

"Then he's checked her out."

Akane had no idea if what he said was true but she couldn't see a reason for him to lie. While she wasn't happy at the thought of the Amzaon running around half-naked in front of Ranma, she did like the idea of him ignoring a practically naked Shampoo because of her.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked curiously.

Taro sighed.

"It's simple. You're going to cause yourself a lot of trouble if you get all worked up over trivial things like this. Save your anger for something important."

Akane smiled at him in gratitude and watched as he stopped and stood akimbo, turning his head to the side.

"It's okay if you want to check me out."

He moved his arms, putting one in front of his face at a ninety degree angle, fist pointing up and the other behind his back, fist down, while he lowered one knee to the ground.

"I don't mind," he added before kissing his bicep. He stood up and brought both hands around in a circular motion around his body until he connected them, fist to fist, arms bowed at the side.

Her lips quirked upwards as she said dryly, "Yup, you are definitely one fine specimen of man."

Taro ran his hand through his hair before shaking his head side to side. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

The pig-tailed boy was once again quiet and lost in contemplation.

He was not brooding.

Brooding was not manly.

Ranma was currently stuck on the topic of Ukyo. He was still feeling angry at her and what she had told him. To make matters worse, she had been trying to talk to him all day when all he wanted to do was forget their conversation. It was definitely not helping his mood. Not trusting himself to deal with her without exploding, he left school as quickly as possible. It felt a little cowardly but he didn't think anything else would work.

Ukyo was supposed to be his friend. She was supposed to know him. But it seemed like she didn't understand him at all.

But that got him wondering; what was he looking for in a wife?

Slowly it came to him, little by little. He wanted someone caring and loyal but who wasn't a pushover. Someone who would be there for him even when he did and said stupid things. Someone who would argue with him but still support him in the end. Someone who was kind and fierce at the same time. Someone who saw him as more than a martial arts genius and looked beyond his good looks and superior physique.

It was purely a lucky coincidence that all these things described Akane perfectly.

He simply ignored the fact that while thinking of the type of woman he wanted to married he kept seeing his blue-haired fiancée's beautiful face.

Ranma stood up and brushed himself off, unable to sit still any longer. He had been sitting near the canal and decided a walk was what he needed to make him feel better, although it didn't end up helping at all.

The pair continued on their way towards the Tendo home, Taro telling her about all of the chores he finished and stopped when they reached the abandoned lot.

"I'll wait here."

"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes."

When she returned they began to spar. Taro was impressed that Akane seemed to remember all the minor adjustments he had mentioned to her before which made a big difference in sparing. Though she had a tendency to commit too much energy into each attack and still over extended herself.

Taro had just decided to take a break in their match when he felt a presence near them, one that seemed to be watching them. Thinking that it was Ranma, who was doing a very poor job concealing himself, Taro decided that it was indeed a good time to fix Akane's little mistakes and have a little fun with Ranma at the same time.

Forming a T with his hands, Taro indicated his desire for a break. Akane walked over to grab two water bottles, handing one to Taro as she reached him.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Taking a swig, Taro said, "That was much better than the first time." Akane gave him a smile in response. "But, you are still over committing when you attack and have a tendency to over-extend when you punch."

Akane faltered a little, feeling disheartened but shook off the feeling, trying to focus on the positive part of his critique.

"Can you show me what I am doing wrong?"

Taro smirked at her, which she thought was a little strange, before saying, "I'd be happy to."

He asked Akane to get into a horse stance, before coming to stand behind her and asking her to throw a punch. As she threw a punch with her right hand, she felt Taro step closer to her. He put his hands on her shoulders as her fist reached the farthest point, effectively stopping her from bringing her hand backwards.

He leaned over her shoulder and said, "Do you see how far your upper body is twisted?" When she nodded yes, he added, "Your fist is actually angled slightly towards your left when it should be straight in front of you." Moving her shoulders slightly, he continued, "Now, your body should stop here. Do you see how your fist is straight in front of you?"

"Yes, I can see the difference."

"Good." Taro pulled back from Akane and stepped in front of her. "I know that is a minor correction but at our skill level, the slight distances and reaction times are what makes the difference between losing and winning."

Akane nodded her head and tried not to grin at the thought that Taro considered her to be in his skill level.

"Now, I know mainly do roundhouse kicks but I've noticed a slight adjustment that needs to be made to your front kicks." Still standing in front of her, he directed her to send a kick at him and grabbed her foot when she had her leg extended.

"You are leaning back a tad too much. Hold that position."

He let go of her foot, walked around her and moved his hands to her hips, rotating them up slightly "Instead of leaning back try to bring your hip up a little more before kicking out. Now, try again and stop at the same spot."

This time when Akane kicked, Taro kept his hands on her hips encouraging them into the correct position. When she stopped with her leg out he said, "Do you feel the difference? You should be a little more stable in this position than the previous one."

"Actually, I can." Taro moved away from her and she turned to face him, giving him a smile, "Thanks. Wanna spar again and let me see if I can make the changes while I fight?"

"Sure."

Taro had felt the presence leave while he was adjusting her kick. He was slightly disappointed he didn't currently have an angry fiancé on his hands but he was sure Ranma got an eyeful. While he did nothing inappropriate, he was sure that from a distance the interactions did not look completely innocent. He internally laughed at the idea of the moron off somewhere sulking, too scared of his fiancée's reaction to confront him.

* * *

Akane was currently in her room, looking at her math book, her head throbbing. When she sat down for dinner that night, she was frustrated to find Ranma being oddly distant. She had tried to engage him in conversation a few times but stopped when all she got in response was monosyllabic answers.

She tried to shrug off the hurt, but she was unsuccessful. For the life of her, she didn't know what she may have done to offend him. Then it occurred to her that maybe his behavior was connected to the date he had with Ukyo.

She had no idea what happened yesterday; he didn't mention it and she didn't ask. As far as she knew, he didn't know that she even knew the date took place. A sense of dread filled her as she wondered if something happened the other day. Maybe his distant attitude had to do with his realization that he was in love with Ukyo and his reluctance at speaking with her was because he didn't know how to break it to her.

Akane spent the rest of dinner telling herself that she would be happy for him but feeling herself become more depressed as the evening went on. She had excused herself early and decided to do her homework, hoping it would take her mind off things.

It didn't work. She kept envisioning Ukyo and Ranma together, holding hands, kissing, and had one very disturbing flash of Ranma making love to the okonomiyaki chef that made her feel nauseous.

After that she had redoubled her effort to focus on her work and the strain it took on her to read and understand her assignment had caused a rather large headache to form. She had just decided to take a break when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called out before turning in her chair to face her visitor.

Nabiki came strolling into the room, closing the door behind her with a cat-that-ate-the-canary look on her face that had Akane feeling apprehensive. She had no idea what her sister wanted to talk about but she knew she wasn't going to like it.

Her sister crossed her arms before saying, "So, you have fun today Akane?'

Confused, Akane shrugged, "I guess so."

"Oh, so nothing interesting happened?"

"No, not really."

"Hmm, because I am sure I saw you with Taro earlier and you two were looking awfully friendly."

Frustrated because she had absolutely no idea where her sister was going with the current conversation, Akane said, "No, we were just sparring."

Nabiki narrowed her eyes at her and Akane was taken aback at the maliciousness that crossed her sister's face.

"Uh-huh. It's okay, you don't have to lie to me, I won't tell Ranma," she smirked at her younger sister before she started examining her nails. "Not that I think he would care anyway."

When Akane didn't take the bait, Naibiki said casually, "You know, I happened to be near Ucchan's yesterday," she smiled when she saw her sister stiffen at the mention of the restaurant.

Akane eyed her sister warily, noticing the shark-like smile appear on her face. Having dealt with her sister her entire life, she was now positive that she would hate what was coming next.

"It was strange, really, to see it closed in the middle of the afternoon. But guess who I saw walk directly towards the restaurant? Ranma. I watched as he knocked on the door and Ukyo opened it almost immediately. You know, I think she was expecting him because she looked awfully cute. I've never really seen her in a dress and I was pretty impressed. She welcomed him in and closed the door behind her. She had all the blinds closed so I don't know what actually happened but he left the restaurant an hour later. What do you think they could have been doing in there the entire time, all alone with the lights low?"

When Akane didn't answer, Nabiki said flippantly, "Oh, did I mention that after Ranma left, Ukyo came to close the door and the buttons of her dress were undone?"

Akane closed her eyes as the full implication of what her sister was telling her hit home. Nabiki had just confirmed her worst fears. She needed to be alone, she didn't want to break down in front of her sister for she would never hear the end of it.

"Can you please leave, I'd like to be alone," she said hoarsely.

"Oh come on, Akane! You don't know what happened, it could have been totally innocent," she replied, her tone implying she didn't believe that to be true.

"Please Nabiki, can you just...go."

Nabiki just rolled her eyes at her younger sister. "Geez, Akane," she said exasperatedly, "you take everything so seriously."

All of a sudden the pressure in her head seemed to swell as she looked at her gleeful sister. Her sister who had just told her that the love of her life had been with another woman and it had made her happy to do it.

"I'm serious. You need to get out of my room."

"Stop being so uptight Akane."

Said girl stood up and pointed to her door, "Get out, Nabiki," she growled.

"I have no idea why you are getting so upset."

Something inside of Akane snapped.

"You want to know why I'm upset? Really? You come in here and accuse me of behaving inappropriately with Taro. Then you sit there and tell me that Ranma had been with Ukyo and you're smiling like that makes you happy." Akane said with disgust.

"Grow up sis, I was just trying to have a little fun."

"Fun? You think messing with my life is fun? Do you think it was fun for me when those boys attacked me everyday?" Akane asked indignantly.

"I didn't cause that or anything else to happen to you. It's not my fault you are a magnet for crazy stuff." Nabiki snapped back.

"You're right, you didn't cause it. But in some cases, you made it worse. Selling pictures of me to Kuno and all the other boys at school, working them into a frenzy, made it worse.

"You want to know why I'm so upset? Maybe it's because you took bets on the hentai horde attacking me instead of doing anything to help me. Maybe it's because you 'borrowed' all my clothes and personal belongings without telling me and never gave them back, but you never shared anything with me. Maybe it's because you blackmailed Ranma and me whenever you could. Maybe it's because you pretended to be in love with Ranma and then tried to SELL HIM BACK TO ME. Maybe it's because you told everyone about the 'engagement ring' and helped destroy Aunty's house. Or maybe it's because you invited everyone to MY wedding so you could make a quick buck knowing they would wreck it! They wrecked the dojo which has been in our family for generations and you didn't care!

"Maybe because in the last two years, you have done NOTHING but think about yourself. About how YOU could use every opportunity to make YOU money. The ONLY person you care about is YOU. Does that answer your question?!" she screamed at her sister.

During Akane's tirade, Nabiki's eyes grew wide as saucers and her jaw dropped forming a small O. Her sister had been mad at her before but she had never screamed at her like this. She tried to recover as quickly as possible, putting on an indifferent mask before Akane next spoke.

"I don't know what I did to make you hate me and to try to cause me so much pain."

"I don't hate you," she scoffed.

"Well, you sure as hell don't love me or even care about me. You know, if mom were alive, she would be disappointed in you. All mom cared about was family and all you care about is money."

Nabiki flinched at the last statement.

There room filled with uncomfortable silence before Akane said, "Now, can you please just leave?"

Without responding, Nabiki turned around and slowly walked out of the room.

When the door closed, Akane threw herself onto her bed, overwhelmed. She could no longer hold back her tears as her emotions got the better of her. She curled up on her side and cried into her pillow, feeling completely devastated.

* * *

**A/N:** To all those Nabiki lovers out there, I'm sorry, but it had to be done. I hope we can still be friends.

Thank you, **PepperonyOwl**, for your awesome help!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next day, Akane was headed home from school, once again by herself. But this time, it was her that snuck out to avoid Ranma, even going so far as to skip her afternoon classes.

She was still reeling from her conversation with Nabiki last night, having been really hurt by her sister's dismissive attitude and downright cruel behavior. But part of her was unsurprised; the middle Tendo had been slowly growing colder the last couple of years. No one bothered to chastise her for her behavior since she simply dismissed anything they said.

What bothered Akane the most was not her behavior but what Nabiki said about Ranma and Ukyo. She couldn't lie to herself, she was completely crushed at the idea of the two having been together... having been intimate.

She felt completely empty inside but at the same time there was a very real physical pain in her chest. The pain felt like constant presence, reminding her that she had lost the one thing she truly wanted. When her brain betrayed her and she imagined the two of them embracing, the ache grew stronger, making her wince. It was so strong that she couldn't even be in the same room with the pair and for the first time in her life, she understood why people used the term 'a broken heart'.

It had become unbearable as she noticed Ukyo glancing at Ranma more often today, giving him a satisfied smirk. Each time she saw that _knowing_ look on the girl's face she felt the pain in her chest increase and had the over-whelming desire to slap the okonomiyaki chef in the face. The urge made her feel ashamed of herself. She didn't want to be _that _girl; the one who blamed 'the other woman', when she knew it took two people to cheat.

But was it cheating? Ranma had every right to pick his other fiancée and she knew it. He never made any declarations or vows to her. He never professed his undying love. She couldn't be mad at him if Ukyo was his choice.

Even if it made her feel like she was dying a little.

But there was one very small part of her that screamed at her stupidity. That argued against Nabiki's words, saying no one but Ranma and Ukyo knew what happened at the restaurant. It sneered at her cowardness, and inability to just ask him what happened. Telling her that she deserved this misery if she was just going to roll over and let someone else end up with the man she wanted, without even putting up a fight. Taunting her, by saying she didn't deserve Ranma anyway, since she obviously had so little faith in him.

She hated that part of her but clung to it all the same. It was the only thing that stopped her falling into what felt like madness and gave her a glimmer of hope.

Reaching the park she sat down on her favorite bench by the water. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm. She took deep breaths and opened her eyes slowly.

She felt embarrassed at her response. She had fallen apart; reacted worse than she did after the failed wedding. She was stronger than that and it was about time she started acting that way. She _would _stop over reacting. She would wait for Ranma to actually declare himself and then she would deal with whatever came.

She steeled herself, willing herself to calm. Maybe if she pretended she was calm, acted like nothing bothered her, it would help. She schooled her face into a passive mask. Having watched both Kasumi and Nabiki do the same for years, it was not hard to figure out how they managed it. The difference between her and her sisters was that she never cared before about showing her feelings; she had never been ashamed, embarrassed or concerned about expressing herself.

But now, it was important for her to learn. It had come to a point where her emotions felt like a burden. Maybe learning how to be able to keep on calm facade would also teach her how to control her moods and keep her temper down.

Akane placed one hand over the other, placing both gently on her lap, crossed her legs at her ankles before tucking them under the bench, looking like a delicate female she knew she wasn't.

* * *

Ukyo was once again in front of the mirror, prepping herself. This time she had donned a traditional kimono, set her hair in a simple bun, and applied very light layer of make-up for the occasion. She stood demurely looking at herself from every possible angle as she practiced bowing, kneeling, and how to walk and sit properly.

She had been very disappointed in her date with Ranma and realized that she shouldn't have been so presumptuous in believing he wanted a more physical relationship. But she refused to believe that she had lost. There was still hope and today, she had a plan. She didn't really want to play this hand but she would do what she had to do to get her man.

Some people would call her desperate but she liked to think of herself as being determined.

* * *

Sitting on the bench, Akane was glad that the effort of keeping her expression calm was actually taking her mind off things. It was harder than it looked, especially when all she wanted to do was beat the day lights out of something. But that never really helped.

What she needed was someone to talk to. But there was no one she could go to. She wanted to ask Konatsu about it, since he was quickly becoming a very good friend. But there was one subject that they have instinctively ignored; Ranma and Ukyo. It was an unspoken rule that they avoided speaking of the pair as a couple. It was almost impossible to avoid talking about people who played such huge parts in their lives, but they kept the conversations to anti-dotes.

She smiled slightly as she remembered the conversation they had the morning after they had ice-cream.

_Akane started out as usual on her morning run. She had gone two blocks and suddenly her senses tingled and she prepared herself for attack. Her heart beat faster when a dark figure jumped in front of her but she relaxed from her defensive position as she recognized Konatsu._

_"Sorry, Akane, did I scare you?"_

_"A little, but it's ok, you're keeping me on my toes. What are you doing here?"_

_"Well, I wanted to thank you for the ice-cream yesterday. I had a wonderful time and I didn't get a chance to tell you how much I enjoyed myself."_

_"You're welcome! But you didn't have to thank me; I had a really good time too." She crossed her arms and smirked at him before adding, "So, are you going to tell me what that was about yesterday?"_

_She was puzzled when his face fell. _

_"I'm sorry, Akane...I didn't mean anything by it...I just thought you needed...so I..."_

_Akane's laugh stopped his rambling. "I'm not mad, I'm actually really grateful! I just wondered why you did it."_

_Konatsu looked relieved and said, "Oh good. I didn't want to over-step my bounds. When you were fighting yesterday, I figured out that you didn't want to hit Kuno and he didn't look like he was going to stop without some help, so..." Konatsu shrugged, clearly stating that she knew the rest. _

_"And I appreciate it, I really do. But what made you accept his offer for a date?"_

_"I don't know really, it was just impulse. At first, I was just trying to draw some attention away from you. Then after I hit him, he seemed to really take notice of me. I could tell he was interested and I just went into flirtation mode automatically. When he asked me for the date, I thought it the most expedient way to get him out of your hair. _

_"I am a little confused about one thing though, why didn't you just hit him when you had an opening?"_

_"Ahh. That." Akane went on to explain about her plan to keep Kuno away. _

_"Well, you know he seemed really interested in me. I could try to keep you off his radar for a while."_

_"Oh, Konatsu, that's so nice of you, but really I couldn't ask you to do that. I mean, I know you aren't attracted to men."_

_Konatsu waved away her protest, saying, "I was trained as a kunoichi, so this will be a piece of cake."_

_They chatted for a while before Akane realized that she needed to get back. "I'm sorry but I have to get back if I want to make it to school on time. Thanks again for your help and keeping Kuno out of my hair."_

_"I'm sorry, that I made you miss your run," he said apologetically._

_"Don't worry about it. I run every morning, missing one is fine."_

_"Would you mind if I ran with you tomorrow? I usually practice when Ukyo is at school but I've always loved a good run."_

_"I try to leave at the same time everyday, so meet me at my house tomorrow!" _

Every morning since then the pair had met up. After the first day, the duo had been stretching and discussed the possibility of a spar. From there, their simple jogs morphed into a quick jog, a spar, and some training; Konatsu was teaching Akane to use some classic ninja tools. Their new friendship was really the bright spot in her week.

To accommodate all of their new activities, the pair had started meeting half an hour earlier. Akane was getting less sleep but it didn't matter to her as she was learning a lot from Konatsu. More importantly, she was really enjoying spending time with him. It was amazing how easy they were with each other. The kunoichi was understanding and funny, in a very self-deprecating way. He was a great listener and never gave her advice unless she asked for it. She never knew how nice it was just to have someone listen to her.

Her eyes closed and face tilted towards the sun, Akane tried to just enjoy the feel of the warm sun on her face.

"Well, hello there."

Akane started, having not sensed or heard anyone come up on her. With her hand over her chest, she called out, "Konatsu! You scared me!"

The kunoichi put his hands over his face and giggled. "I'm sorry, Akane."

"No, you're not! You were using your stealth techniques to scare me, weren't you?" Akane asked her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Making his eyes go wide, and putting on a falsely innocent look he said, "of course not. I would_ never_ do that to you."

Akane continued to glare at the man in front of her but soon broke out in a wide smile. "You're going to have to teach me how you do that."

"Of course, it will be my pleasure." Taking a seat on the bench, he asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in school, Akane?"

"Yup. I ditched and am taking a me day," she said unrepentantly.

"And what does a 'me day' entail, exactly?"

"I have no idea. This is my first one. How about you, shouldn't you be at _Ucchan's_ getting it ready for this afternoon?"

"I would be but Ukyo has something to do this afternoon and told me that I should just take the rest of the day off."

Akane was trying to not think about why Ukyo would need the restaurant closed for the afternoon but her imagination was getting the better of her. Luckily, she was snapped out of her thoughts by Konatsu.

Clearing his throat, he began hesitantly, "There's something I've been wanting to ask you. Do you think...that you can help me?"

"Of course." Akane said, without waiting to hear what he wanted. "I'll do anything I can to help you, I hope you know that."

Konatsu sighed in relief and gratitude. Akane's generosity and kind spirit was humbling and he was so happy that he had her as a friend.

"What I have to ask may seem strange. I want you to help make me a man."

Akane's face became red and she sputtered in indignation, "What? What kind of girl do you think I am? I thought that you knew..."

Akane's rant was stopped when Konatsu began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked, now standing in front of him, her hands crossed over her chest, tapping her foot.

"Oh, Akane. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I want you to help me change my appearance to look more like a man."

"Oh," she responded completely flabbergasted at the request which was somehow more shocking than thinking the kunoichi wanted to have sex with her. She slowly sat down next to him, looking concerned. "Why?"

"I've been thinking about it a lot lately and...when Ukyo gets married, I'll probably need to find somewhere else to work, live and...You were right the other day, when you said I wasn't attracted to men. But what type of girl would want me, looking like this?" He waved his over his body to emphasize the point.

Akane really wanted to tell him that he would find someone who would love him for who he was but she didn't want to give him false hope. She was sure that once a girl got to know him, they would have no trouble loving him. But the only girls who would notice him dressed like he was were lesbians, which would obviously not work. Instead she tried another tactic.

Putting her hand over his, she squeezed slightly, before saying, "It sounds like you have really thought this out but I want make sure you're doing this for you and not anyone else. Are you positive you want to do this?"

Squeezing back slightly, he smiled gently at her, he said "I'm sure."

"Okay then, let's go to the mall. You're getting a make-over."

* * *

Nodoka Saotome was sitting at the table, quietly enjoying some tea. Her husband and his best friend had informed her that they were going out for the afternoon to "train", which she knew meant they were at some bar somewhere. She generally ignored their antics, figuring men will be men and they were expected to have some vices.

She was alone at the house, since Ranma, Akane and Nabiki were at school and Kasumi had gone to "run an errand," which was code for paying Dr. Tofu a visit. The older woman smiled at this. She hadn't told Kasumi that she knew her secret and was glad the nearly twenty year old was finally focused on something other than running the house. It just wasn't right for a beautiful young woman like her to give up on having a family of her own and Nodoka was hoping to hear of an engagement sometime soon.

It was rare for her to be alone at the house, since it had so many inhabitants, and she was trying to enjoy the peace and quiet but failing miserably. It reminded her of the years she spent living alone while she waited for her husband and son to come home. She had spent too much time living with quiet to truly be able to enjoy it.

What she really wanted were some grandchildren to spoil. She missed the pitter-patter of little feet, the squeal of laughter as it rang through the halls, the innocent happy faces smiling back at you and the unreserved hugs and kisses. Realistically, she knew she would have to wait a few years. Even if her son and his fiancée got married today, they would be too young to start a family, despite their fathers'wishes. But she could dream.

Nodoka's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on the front door. When she opened it, she was surprised at the visitor.

"Good afternoon, Ukyo. "

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Saotome."

"If you're looking for Ranma, he's in school right now."

"Actually, I was here to speak to you, if you have a moment."

"Of course, come on in."She walked the younger girl to the living room, "Please have a seat, I'll get another cup of tea and I'll be right back."When she got back, she set down a plate of red-bean mochi, poured a cup of tea for her guest, and refilled her own before asking politely, "So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Giving Nodoka a demure smile she said, "I just wanted to spend some time with you and get to know you better, after all, you will be my mother-in-law."

Nodoka's only response was to give her a smile before picking and drinking her tea.

Ukyo had gone to the market the other day and seen Nodoka and Akane out shopping. She followed the two shortly and had watched and seen the way Nodoka treated Akane; almost as if she already considered Akane her daughter-in-law.

It made Ukyo furious! She should have known Akane would have used Ranma's mother to get closer to him! Everyone knew how much Nodoka meant to him and Akane was in the unique position to take advantage of that. Just looking at them, it was obvious that Akane was sucking up to the woman in hopes that it would sway Ranma's final decision. That must be why Ranma pushed her away the other day, because Nodoka had been pushing him towards that manipulative bitch.

It all made sense and set Ukyo's teeth on edge. She wanted to go in there, to confront Akane, but stopped herself. How would it look to Nodoka if she went in swinging, seemingly unprovoked?

So she left and went home to plan. She would show Nodoka exactly who would make the better wife and daughter-in-law. Then she would be the one to win Ranma.

And the plan was working perfectly. She couldn't afford to have Genma around, he was too adamant about joining the Anything Goes Schools, so she had slipped some free drink coupons in the mail for Soun and Genma to bar on the other side of town, that could only be used today at a specific time. The morons didn't even question it and left happily. She lucked out that Kasumi decided to leave but the older passive girl didn't concern her much.

Now she had an entire afternoon to show Nodoka that she was the epitome of Japanese womanhood; polite, demure, submissive and always willing to put her husband first.

"This is wonderful tea."

"Thank you. I'm glad you like it."

"And the mochi is delicious, did you make it yourself?"

"Yes, I did. If you'd like I can give you the recipe."

"Thank you, I would appreciate it. I do love to cook and I am quite accomplished at it, if I do say so myself."

"That's a wonderful skill for a young woman to have."

"I agree. It'll be so useful once I'm a married woman. Think of all the healthy meals I will be able to cook for Ranma. I'd love to have you over so I can cook for you."

"That sounds lovely, we will have to see how that works with our schedule and get back to you,"Nodoka said genially.

Ukyo's eyes narrowed slightly but the smile stayed on her face. She was trying very hard to be polite to the woman in front of her but she was making it so difficult! Why was she being so cagey? Wasn't it obvious that she was the superior fiancée? Why couldn't people see that?

Maybe it was time to stop playing so coy.

Setting her tea down, Ukyo smiled and said, "Come now, Mrs. Saotome, we both know that I am the best choice for Ranma. So why don't we get to know each other, it'll make him happy to see us get along."

Setting her own cup down, Nodoka looked at the girl, eyebrow raised and asked, "You think you are the best choice? Please, tell me why."

"Let's look at his other choices. Kodochi is rich and beautiful but the entire family is crazy. I doubt you would want to risk your grand-children inheriting their insanity. Shampoo is beautiful and a skilled warrior, but she'd want to take Ranma to live in some back-water village in China where he will be treated a second-class citizen. Your _manly_ son deserves better than that.

"And Akane. I know that you probably have some feelings for her, after all, you and your family live in her home. But don't allow your sense of gratitude to the Tendos cloud you to how unfit she would be for Ranma. She's not a very good martial artist. They barely get along most the time. She's always hitting him. She will never even be able to make him a decent meal. She would never understand his need to go on an extended training mission. Other than her family's dojo, she really doesn't have much to offer. "

"I see. Aren't you two friends?"

"Yes, that is why I was being so kind with my assessment," Ukyo said, giving her a sweet smile.

Nodoka made a non-committal sound before adding, "So, why don't you tell me why you would make a better bride?"

"First, Ranma and I have known each other since we were children and are friends. Our future together will be financially secure because I already have a thriving business and it will only become more successful with Ranma's help. And since we are the owners, he is free to leave whenever he wants to train. We'd love to have you and Mr. Saotome live with us of course. Ranma finds me attractive, so providing you with grandchildren won't be a problem."

"I see, you make some interesting points."

"I'm glad you think so."

The okonomiyaki chef beamed. She knew if she could present herself in the best possible light, things would work out.

"I do have some questions for you. What would you do if Ranma decided to go on a long training journey?"

"I'd give him my support and wait for him with open arms when he got back."

"And if he wanted to take your young child with him?"

Ukyo tilted her head to the side, not having expected that question, which was very short sighted of her. She gave Nodoka the answer she thought older woman wanted to hear.

"I'd tell him to be extra careful, to not to try any techniques until he read the entire manual, and to write as much as possible."

Nodoka gave her a knowing look and a nod, "I see."

Glad that she had given the correct answer she asked, "Does that mean I have your support?"

Nodoka gave her a slightly confused look. "I'm sorry Ukyo, I don't understand. What kind of support would you like me to give you?"

"Well, I'd like for you to tell Ranma that you think I am the best choice for him." Her smile was still bright but she couldn't believe how obtuse the older lady was.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

Ukyo reeled back, shocked. "Why the hell not?" she shouted before she could stop herself.

"Because, that would be a lie. I'm sorry but I do not think you are the best choice."

"Are you going to tell me why?" Ukyo ground out.

"While I am sure you would make someone a lovely bride and you made very good points for yourself, there are two things that I think that are truly needed to make any relationship work: trust and loyalty.

"I've seen how much Ranma trusts Akane and how loyal she is to him, even though they may not realize it. When Ranma's curse was still a secret, she went to great lengths to help him, even pretending to be the fiancée to some stranger because he asked her to help keep an eye on me. There is a bond between them that I do not think anyone will be able to break or come between."

"Well, that's great for Akane. But what about me? What about my engagement? Its just as valid as hers! More so since your husband took my dowry while you haven't received anything from the Tendos!" she screamed.

Ukyo couldn't understand why things were going so badly and how it happened. She thought things were finally going her way!

"I was wondering if you were going to bring that up."

"Of course I'm going to bring that up! Your husband behaved completely dishonorably by taking off with my yatta and not taking me with him. And I see that it's a trait that runs in your family if you can completely disregard what your family owes me." Ukyo's anger was making her careless at what she said to the older woman.

Nodoka's face grew cold and her body stiffened.

"I am very aware of my husband's actions and what damage it has done to the Saotome name and to my son. But what about your actions?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? You wish to speak to me about honor. Do you think it was honorable to help destroy my house because of a gift I gave to Akane that you thought was an engagement ring? That you were basically trying to steal from her and in the process you destroyed my home. What do you think the value is of the house versus the yatta? Even if we split the cost in thirds, it would be of a greater monetary value than your dowry.

"That is not even counting the emotional costs. You girls ruined the home I stayed in while I waited for my husband and son to come back; the one place we shared as a family. Along with items from Ranma's childhood that I can never replace.

"Or was it honorable to come to my son's wedding with bombs? Destroying the dojo in the process. There were people there that weren't martial artist! What if you hit someone like Kasumi by mistake?"

"What did you expect? For me to just sit back and let that happen?"

"Actually, yes. If you really loved Ranma you would be happy for him if he found someone he loved, regardless of how you felt."

"That's bullshit." Ukyo seethed. "So, that's it. Even if Ranma chose me, you would object."

Nodoka sighed, "No. If Ranma wanted to marry you, I would try to welcome you to the family. The choice is his, regardless of what his father says or wants."

Ukyo, while not happy was slightly mollified by this. The women sat in awkward silence for a few moments with absolutely nothing to discuss before Ukyo took her leave.

All-in-all, Ukyo realized that dressing up like a girl was so not worth it.

* * *

Akane and Konatsu had gone to a local discount department store and spent nearly an hour shifting through the sale racks for clothes to try on. Their search would have been quicker but Konatsu had no idea what style of clothing he wanted or what would look good on him. So the duo had grabbed everything that would fit him and, ladened with armfuls of items, they had headed to the dressing room. Thankfully, the dressing rooms were unisex and there was no problem trying to sneak the kimono clad kunoichi into a men's dressing area.

Akane was glad she had run into Konatsu who provided the perfect distraction for the afternoon. The man had an amazing ability to take her outside of herself and forget her worries.

Just then a rather bishonen young man came out, dressed in a white linen suit with the sleeves of the jacket rolled up, a salmon colored v-neck underneath, wearing loafers without socks and on his face he had silver framed aviator sun-glasses. He saunters towards her, his hips swaying and his hands bent at a ninety degree angle, parallel to the floor, his hair still in a high bouncy pony-tail. He reaches her and does a turn, ending up posing with both hands angled over his head and his hip jut forward.

It takes everything Akane has not to giggle as she realized that this was going to take more than just a wardrobe change. She critiqued the clothes as well fitting but not suiting the man.

As he turned to leave, Akane said gently, "Can you try tying your hair at the base of your neck instead? It would be a little more masculine."

Konatsu brought his palm over his mouth and replied, "Of course, I should have realized that!" before he giggled and bounced back into the dressing room.

When he next comes out his hair was tied at the base of his neck, wearing a pair of white shorts, a stripped polo, tennis shoes with white tube socks over his ankle, and a sweatband on his forehead. He skiped out, a tennis racket propped on one shoulder. Once he reached her, he bounced on his feet left to right, before taking some swings and ends posed with the head of the racquet pointed down, his hands joined over the handle, his upper body bent at the waist, his feet next to each other as he stands on tippy toes.

"What do you think of this one?"

"That maybe a little too sporty for you," she said diplomatically. The corners of her mouth tugging upwards and she added, "Konatsu, men don't usually skip."

He stood straight up, and placed one arm across his chest and the opposite hand tapped at his chin. "They don't? Why not? It's so much fun!" he asks her curiously.

Akane shrugs, "I have no idea. But you can still skip when you are dressed as a girl," she says placatingly.

"Oh! That's right!"

Konatsu bounced up and down excitedly, clapped his hands together before he turned around and went back to change.

When he next came out, the kunoichi was wearing a pair of overalls that appeared to be two sizes too big for him with one strap undone, a large T-shirt underneath, yellow rubber soled boots and a cap tipped to one side. This time he came out at a more sedate pace, a pout firmly set on his face, obviously not pleased with his outfit.

Without a word, Akane pointed a finger towards the dressing room and he ran back quickly. After that, the youngest Tendo decided to save her suggestions on behavioral modifications until after they picked out an outfit. She sat back and watched as Konatsu came out in a series of outfits.

Colorful pants that were wide with ample room at the thighs and that tapered at the knee down, paired with a neon workout jacket.

Faded ripped jeans, long sleeve white shirt with a ripped sleeveless flannel shirt over it, and black-fingerless gloves.

Tight jeans, with a tool belt and hard hat.

Black leather motorcycle pants, black leather vest with no shirt and black leather cap.

American army fatigues in green with cap.

Policeman's uniform complete with motorcycle helmet.

Jeans with with chaps, fringed leather vest, cowboy hat and cowboy boots.

And oddly enough, a pair of cut off shorts, American Indian beaded breastplate with full feathered head piece.

Akane realized it may have been a bad idea to pick a department store that had such a large costume section dedicated to Japan's cosplay community.

In the end, they settled on a pair of blue jeans, a fitted black tee-shirt with black shoes. The simple outfit showed off Konatsu's muscular body perfectly while giving him room to move on the off chance he was attacked.

Konatsu was glad he ran into Akane in the park, as she was the only person he could trust to help him like this. He had very few friends and he was beginning to truly cherish her friendship. He had always wished to have such a relationship with his stepsisters.

However, as they walked over to the food court, Konatsu noticed that she looked uneasy. She would occasionally take a glance at him from the corner of her eyes and her face would frown slightly before she put on a neutral mask.

They both ordered milkshakes from WacDonald's and went to sit at a booth.

"Akane, I wanted to thank you for your help today. I had so much fun."

"Me too." She replied giving him a smile that seemed to lack in it's normal brilliance.

"If you don't mind, could you tell me what's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong! I'm fine, really!"

Giving her a slight frown, Konatsu said, "If you don't want to talk about it, I'll understand but don't feel like you have to lie about it."

Akane sighed before looking up at the kunoichi.

"It's not that I don't want to talk about it; it's just that I'm not used to having anyone to talk to about this stuff. My friends Yuka and Sayuri are great, I've known them practically my entire life and they have always been so supportive of me. But their lives are so _normal_ they can't fathom how strange mine is at times. They try to empathize but can't really know what it's like.

"And my sisters just don't understand me. Kasumi, is just to sweet and gentle. She's taken such good care of me but she could never understand my love for martial arts. I know she thinks of me as a 'violent maniac' because of my love of hitting things and breaking bricks. With her personality, I can't blame her for it... but it hurts a little. I've always looked up to her.

"Nabiki is..." Akane closed her eyes to defend herself from the pain of their most recent encounter. "Nabiki," she finished.

"But lately...even though we haven't known each other very long, I feel really close to you. Like I can talk to you about anything. And I know with the life you've lived, that you can truly understand the craziness that happens in mine."

He gave her a wide smile and squeezed the hand she had lying on the table with his.

"That's... I mean, I feel the same way about you. But I don't understand, why does that make you sad?"

Akane grimaced, not knowing if what she had to say would offend him.

"Ummm...the thing is... Okay. I know you are a guy. I do. But when you are dressed the way you normally are, I seem to forget and well...I think of you as one of the girls. Like a sister," she blurted out.

She looked up at him with apologetic eyes and added, "But looking the way you are...I am reminded that you are a _guy_. And well, I ..."

Akane was interupted when Konatsu grabbed her hand, giving it another squeeze.

"I understand. I do. With your history it must be hard to trust guys. And I'm not offended that you think of me as a girl, since I actually thought I was one until not too long ago. But no matter how I'm dressed, I'm still me. And I will be there for you whenever you need me."

The petite martial artist smiled in appreciation and realized that he was right, his clothing didn't make a difference to who he was on the inside. It was the same with Ranma, he was still him when he was a she.

Giving him a wide smile and thanking him, she changed the topic to how he needed to behave if he wanted to act like a guy.

* * *

The young lady strolling through the shopping district was pondering the sad state of her love life. It was so difficult to even have one when you attended an all-girl's school with nary a boy around. But she managed to find a dashing young man who had swept her off her feet, quite literally. She remembered how safe she'd felt in his strong arms.

_Hohoho_.

She could imagine that he had been equally enraptured with her and had desired to take her first kiss but he was shy, a gentleman who wouldn't consider taking such liberties. So she helped to encourage him until she was rudely interrupted by that harlot...

Just then Kodachi Kuno passed a large window and was distracted by her own magnificent reflection. Her hair in her signature coif; bangs perfectly fluffed and her long glorious hair pulled into a high side ponytail. She frowned a little at her school uniform, even though the outfit hid her beautiful body, she still looked regal; no one else could make such common pieces look this good.

"Hohoho!" Kodachi affected a laugh, her curved hand brought delicately to hover just in front of her mouth.

Yes, that was perfect. She looked perfect.

Lost in the vision of herself, she missed the people giving her a wide berth, to avoid her as she cackled. One mother grabbing the hand of her young son, whispering to him, "Don't make eye contact, honey," as she rushed him away.

After a few more moments of gazing at herself and humming a delightful tune, Kodachi decided she wanted to rid herself of those confining clothes, the symbol of her oppressive struggles with love. Pulling at her uniform, it ripped easily off her body, displaying her signature green and white leotard. Letting out another gleeful laugh, she stood on her toes, her body stretched perfectly, her head tilted back and her gymnastics ribbon forming a perfect spiral behind her. She leapt away, leaving a trail of black rose pedals in her wake.

She sprung lightly along to a rhythm only she could hear. She slowed when she reached the food court and stopped completely in her tracks when she spotted that wicked girl who took her love's attention away. Her eyes narrowed when she saw that the temptress was not alone, oh no, she was with another man!

* * *

Akane had spent the last half hour trying to explain the difference between how men and women acted. It wasn't an easy thing for her to do since she really never gave it much thought. After the first five minutes, she decided that observing different groups was the easiest way to point out the differences in the behavior of the sexes.

They started by watching a group of girls, Akane pointing out how they walked, their hips swaying a little. How they interacted with each other, leaning in and whispering, giggling behind their hands. How they interacted with the other sex, flipping their hair over their shoulder and batting their eyes.

They switched to a group of guys next and how they walked with their shoulders back, feet parallel to each other so their hips didn't sway. They interacted differently with each other than the girls, giving each other slaps and punches while they laughed. Laughed, never giggled. Finally, they watched as the boys tried to hit on the girls, puffing out their chest, winking at them, and giving each other nudges in the ribs as they egged their members forward.

Konatsu was fascinated as he watched the two groups interact with each other. Flirting as a man seemed completely opposite to flirting as a girl. Women were coy and soft whereas men seemed to be loud and boisterous. To be honest it was a bit intimidating and he had no idea if he would be able to pull it off.

But he rallied, telling himself that it was training and he would be a better ninja because of it. He watched them while he sat at the table and moved his shoulders the way the boys did, trying to figure out how to incorporate their movements with his.

Turning back to Akane he said, "Excuse me while I use the little girl's room."

Placing a hand on his wrist, she said firmly, "You mean the men's room. You do _not_ want to go through the wrong door dressed like that."

Trying to suppress his blush, he said, "Right. The men's room."

Akane watched as he walked away, wincing slightly as she saw his hips had begun to sway before he corrected himself. Then she moaned and rubbed her face as he saw he practically stomped away, arms bowed to the side, swinging as he walked, clearly trying for what he thought would be a manly strut.

Kodachi watched as that conniving girl held the hand of another man. It was a shame that her Ranma would be forced to marry a girl who had such loose morals. However, she could not blame the girl, the man was almost as attractive as her love. He was tall, lean, and very handsome, even if his features leaned towards the feminine.

She would be more than happy to tell her beloved of the vixen's betrayal and bask in his gratitude. Once he knew he was free from her clutches she was sure he would declare his love and undying devotion right then and there. And if she could lure the other man away, then Ranma would surely see that she was the most desirable woman. He would be so grateful to her for helping him be rid of the male _and_ his unfortunate fiancée, he would propose immediately. Yes, she thought with a gay laugh, that was a perfect plan.

Akane's head shot up and she looked around as she heard a very familiar, very annoying laugh. She sighed, resigned to the inevitable stupidity that would undoubtably accompany the gymnast when she showed up. She vaguely wondered if she would be attacked by bokken, clubs or mallet. It was a toss up when it came to that loon.

_But at least I'm never bored, _she though dryly before adding, _and my day was getting so much better._

Looking over she noticed that Konatsu was making his way back and she wondered if they had time to leave before they were noticed.

Just then, Kodachi seemed to leap out of nowhere, but strangely enough started to sashay herself towards the kunoichi, pretending not to notice the man by looking at the ceiling. Just as Konatsu was going to walk past her, the gymnast tripped over thin air, falling face first - chest first if you were being technical - onto the man.

With his quick reflexes, he wrapped his arms around her and helped her to her feet.

"Excuse..." Konatsu cleared his throat and brought his voice down an octave lower than he was used to, "Excuse me miss. I didn't see you there."

Batting her eyelashes at him and laughing, she said, "That's quite alright. I'm just so lucky to have been caught by such a strong man." She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and gave him a wide smile, batting her lashes some more.

Picking up all the visual queues, Konatsu, remembering what the elder Kuno sibling tried to do when he flirted, picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles, saying, "It was my pleasure."

Kodachi beamed at this, surprised that any man seen with that harlot would have such good manners. She stared into eyes that were such a deep brown that she thought she was looking into pools of dark chocolate and she felt her heart flutter a little. This man truly was gorgeous.

"How rude of me, let me introduce myself. My name is Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose of St. Bacchus school for girls. Maybe you've heard of me."

Konatsu smiled, of course he heard of her, he knew exactly who she was the moment she laughed.

"Yes, I have. Your skills in rhythmic gymnastics are renowned. My name is Kon... just Kon."

He gave her a low bow and was about to walk away when she next spoke.

"It's nice to meet you Kon. Maybe you would like to walk me home, it's getting _awfully _late."

Giving her another bow and a wink, he offered her his arm.

The duo was too far away for Akane to hear their conversation but it was obvious that they were flirting with each other!

Of all the people for Konatsu to practice on, the gymnast was the last girl she would have picked. Her jaw dropped as she saw Kodachi put her hand in the creak of his elbow and lead them away. They had gone a few steps before the other girl looked over her shoulder and made eye contact with Akane, a triumphant smile on her face. A moment later, with his free hand, Konatsu gave her a thumbs up behind his back.

She had no idea if he knew what he was getting himself into but she was sure he could handle himself. Shrugging her shoulders she picked up Konatsu's bag and headed back to the department store to buy the kunoichi the glasses he liked so much but couldn't afford. The man deserved at least that much for having to deal with both Kunos.

* * *

**A/N:** I know there was no Ranma in this chapter but with everything going on, I couldn't fit him in.

The idea that Ukyo would appeal to Nodoka about the engagement has been done before. **Luna12** addresses it in her story **"****Of Loss, Life, & Love****"**, which is where I got the inspiration for my scene, although our outcomes are very different. It's a great story, so check it out.

For the paragraph with Kodachi, I was sorely tempted to write "Squirrel" randomly and have her be distracted and look around. "Up" fans will get the reference.

As always, a big thanks to **PepperonyOwl** for her help.

I'm amazed at the amount of reviews I received for the last chapter. Thank you so much for your support; it makes me so happy that everyone is enjoying this story.


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